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PROCEEDINGS 

OF THE 

CONFERENCE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS 
AND THE POSTAL SERVICE 

_ 7f&3 

Post Office Department 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 


April 1 to B, 1919 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1919 

2 - _ 

— --— 








Do Of 
MAY 21 1919 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Post Office Department, 
Washington , D. O., April 1 , 1919 . 

The first session of the postal business conference was called to 
order at 10.30 o’clock a. m. at the Post Office Department by First 
Assistant Postmaster General John C. Koons. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the first thing on the program this morning 
will be an address by the Postmaster General. As it is now nearly 11 
o’clock, and as he has another engagement later, without any formal¬ 
ity we will send for him and he will then talk to us. I will ask Mr. 
Carlile, Chief Inspector Sutton, and General Superintendent of 
Railway Mail Service Denning to please act as a committee to call 
upon the Postmaster General and inform him we are now ready to 
hear him. 

(The committee retired, returning in a few moments with Post¬ 
master General Burleson, who was greeted by a rising audience and 
prolonged applause.) 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, it gives me very great pleasure to introduce 
to you the Postmaster General of the United States, Hon. A. S. 
Burleson. [Applause.] 

ADDRESS OF POSTMASTER GENERAL BURLESON. 

Mr. Burleson. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have been very 
much embarrassed as to just how I should talk to you—as to just what 
I should say. I am sorely tempted to discuss the general postal situa¬ 
tion just as it is—to frankly and candidly disclose conditions just as I 
see them. But I suppose that I will resist the temptation. Waves of 
comment on official conduct, commendatory and condemnatory, con¬ 
stantly beat in on Washington, and it is difficult for those of us who 
hold official place to gauge their real force. In order to thoroughly 
understand the effect of this comment, one must get in touch with men 
throughout the country, and it is for this reason that you gentlemen 
have been brought here in order that at this end of the line we may 
get a more thorough grasp upon postal conditions as they exist, 
and in order also that we may have your frank criticisms of the 
service, so that we may improve it in every way possible. Especially 
am I anxious to discover if there are any after effects of this war 
reflected in postal conditions, and if there are that some measures 
be taken to remedy those conditions, if they call for remedy. 

When America entered upon this war from which we have just 
emerged, in April, 1917, every well-informed man knew that in order 



4 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


to prosecute the war to a successful conclusion we would be called upon 
to exert every ounce of our energy and our effort. The central 
pow T ers, compact and contiguous, one of which had been going through 
a process of preparation for 40 years, with wonderful facilities of 
mobilization of men and supplies, for nearly three years had been 
achieving remarkable success. Of the allies, Russia was practically 
down and out; Great Britain, France, Italy were sorely distressed, 
if not in dire extremes, lacking food, lacking supplies, lacking men. 
What a stupendous task confronted the American people when we 
entered this conflict! We all knew that not only was it necessary 
for us to produce food sufficient for our own domestic purposes, but 
that it was necessary for us to produce a quantity in addition that 
would supply those with whom we purposed to associate in the prose¬ 
cution of the war. Not only was it necessary that we should supply 
munitions and supplies for any army that we might raise, but it was 
necessary in addition that we should supply munitions and military 
equipment for Great Britain, France, and Italy. Gentlemen, think 
for a second of our situation with reference to the seat of the con¬ 
flict—3,000 miles removed—with a vast body of water intervening. 
Theretofore it had been considered an impossibility to transport vast 
numbers of men this great distance, but America made up her mind 
when she entered this contest that she was going to win it, and, if 
necessary, accomplish the impossible. [Applause.] 

Overnight, as it were, the vast industries of our country were con¬ 
verted from a peace basis to a war basis in order that we might manu¬ 
facture munitions and the supplies necessary for our purposes. Of 
course, this disorganized these great industries, and before all prepa¬ 
rations were complete every industry in America was not only dis¬ 
organized but was demoralized, in a sense, and every household in our 
broad land was disturbed. Even such an efficient organization as our 
railroad transportation system—and before this war we had not only 
the most wonderful system of transportation in the world but the 
most thoroughly organized and the most efficient—because of the 
great demands made upon it and the extraordinary conditions pre¬ 
cipitated by the hasty preparations for war, became so thoroughly 
demoralized that it broke down completely, and the Government 
was compelled to take it over. 

Are you surprised, can anyone be surprised, that the postal organi¬ 
zation should have been somewhat disturbed? Consider for a°mo¬ 
ment what immediately happened upon our entrance into the war. 
Of the 300,000 postal employees scattered throughout the country, 
those within draft age were subject to military service, and with 
the exception of one very small class I, as Postmaster General asked 
for no exemption for them, because I knew that they did not want 
to be exempted. [Applause.] Thousands of those employees, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


5 


trained and efficient, were immediately withdrawn from the service 
for enlistment in the Army and the Navy. A great many others 
were necessarily taken from their usual places and assigned to duty 
in the cantonments and the naval divisions throughout our own 
country in order that we might give postal service to the Army that 
was then in course of preparation. In addition thereto were those 
great industries working under high pressure for the accomplish¬ 
ment of the stupendous task that the Government had placed upon 
them, and thousands more of our employees were lured away to those 
industries because of the high prices that were being paid for labor 
at those particular places. The places of all these men withdrawn 
from the Postal Service necessarily had to be filled, and how did we 
fill them? 

It was through no fault of ours nor that of the Civil Service Com¬ 
mission that we had to utilize the material at hand. We were driven 
to the necessity of utilizing inexperienced and untried men to fill the 
places theretofore filled by these highly trained expert postal em¬ 
ployees. Of course it was difficult to maintain the service upon that 
high standard of efficiency that had theretofore obtained. People 
accustomed to good postal service, when it is disturbed, as it was by 
these conditions, not thinking about the reasons therefor, naturally 
offered criticism. It was perfectly natural that they should do so. 
I take no exception to that. But those of us who are well informed 
know that of all the postal establishments of the billigerent countries 
engaged in this war, America’s and America’s alone is the one estab¬ 
lishment that did not break down to a certain extent. [Applause.] 

Our troubles did not cease as a result of the conditions which I have 
detailed to you. If that had been all the trouble that was to confront 
us as the result of this war, the splendid men who are connected with 
the Postal Establishment in supervisory positions could have readily 
adjusted the situation, and in a very short time lifted the service again 
upon its usual high standard of efficiency. 

But that was only the beginning of our troubles. We soon learned 
that every department of the Government upon which a war activity 
had been imposed that was national in its scope immediately, when 
it understood the task that was to be performed, turned to the Postal 
Establishment as the one department of the Government that had a 
nation-wide organization thoroughly effective that could do things. 
Some of the most unusual, highly important, and extraordinary activ¬ 
ities were imposed upon the Postal Establishment during this war. 

I had occasion the other day, in the course of a few remarks which 
I made to the inspectors in charge, to recount these activities, and 
while I was recounting them I pledge you my word I was appalled at 
their scope, stupendous character, and labor involved in the carrying 
out of these tremendous activities by the Postal Establishment. 


6 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


The State Department had new duties to perform in this war, and 
it immediately called upon us, and a number of our best men were 
detailed for service in that department. 

When the Treasury Department and the Congress realized that 
the prosecution of this war entailed upon this country the necessity 
of expending billions and billions of dollars, it entered upon the task 
of floating loans, and immediately turned to the Postal Establish¬ 
ment for assistance, and we transported for the Treasury Department 
during this war thousands and thousands of tons of printed matter 
in the way of propaganda furthering the successful floating of those 
Liberty Loans. Finally the Congress decided upon a plan of raising 
money that would reach another class of the American people—• 
those with smaller means—and it authorized the issuance of $2,000,- 
000,000 of War Savings Certificates and Thrift Stamps. It provided 
the Treasury Department with a liberal percentage of this sum for 
the purpose of enabling it to perfect an organization to conduct its 
campaign to sell these War Savings Certificates and Thrift Stamps. 
The Post Office Department was given no appropriation for that 
purpose, and under the law no part of that provided for the use of 
the Treasury Department could be allotted to the Postal Establish¬ 
ment. And yet, gentlemen, as you know, ultimately 80 per cent of 
these War Savings Certificates and Thrift Stamps were sold by and 
through the Postal Establishment of the United States! [Applause.] 

Not only did the employees of the Post Office Department patri¬ 
otically and courageously grapple with this task but it was necessary 
to audit more than 50,000 accounts in connection with the sale and 
distribution of these War Saving Certificates and Thrift Stamps. 

Our establishment was also called upon to serve the Government in 
the placing of war-revenue stamps throughout the country so they 
could be readily accessible to the people. That called for more ac¬ 
counting and for more auditing. Not only that, but the postmasters 
of this country of certain classes were instructed to familiarize them¬ 
selves with the income-tax questionnaires—and God knows that was 
a task [laughter]—in order that they might advise and assist the 
people in the preparation of their returns. 

But our work did not stop there. When Gen. Crowder, acting 
under the directions of the Secretary of War, prepared his question¬ 
naire which would enable him to take the initial steps toward bring¬ 
ing into the service of the United States that wonderful Army which 
was afterwards created it was through the instrumentality of the 
Post Office Department that these questionnaires, without addresses, 
without labels, without stamps were placed wherever it was necessary 
that they should be placed, and I have the satisfaction, as I said to 
those inspectors the other day, of having Gen. Crowder say to me 
that he could not have conducted that wonderful service with the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFEKENCE. 7 

satisfaction to himself that he did but for the efficient aid rendered 
to him by the Postal Establishment. 

But our work did not stop there. The third and fourth class post 
offices of the Postal Establishment were made recruiting agents for 
the Army and Navy and the Marine Corps. When this Army was 
brought into existence and transported across 3,000 miles of water, 
when we organized an efficient—if I do say it myself—postal service 
in France, the clash of conflict came and casualties were brought into 
existence it was through the instrumentality of the Postal Establish¬ 
ment that those lists were printed and distributed, carrying the news 
to the stricken households of America of those who had fallen upon 
the field of valor. 

And that was not all. It became necessary to register the alien 
enemies of America. The head of the Department of Justice, upon 
whom the responsibility for the performance of this service was im¬ 
posed, frankly said to me, “ I can not perform this service unless you 
lend me the assistance of the wonderful organization that you have,” 
and in every town and village of America having less than 5,000 
inhabitants it was the postmaster who registered the alien enemies 
there. 

And our labors did not stop there. Through the Labor Depart¬ 
ment it became necessary that we should establish in some way an 
effective employment agency in order that we might shift labor from 
places where it was not needed to places where it was needed to meet 
these great emergencies which confronted us. Every post office in 
the country, at the request of the Labor Department, became an 
employment agency. 

But this was not all, because when America entered upon her policy 
of food conservation—and it was the first time in the history of this 
country of wonderful resources that an American was ever asked to 
deny himself food—the particular food that he wanted at the particu¬ 
lar moment—but they were asked and they responded. Before they 
were asked, however, it was necessary that some kind of an organiza¬ 
tion should be effected. Mr. Hoover came to my office and said, “ I 
want to reach the housewives of America. It is upon the women that 
I must depend in order to conserve food that we may supply our as¬ 
sociates in this war. I can make my organization threefold effective 
if you will lend the assistance of this wonderful organization, the 
Postal Establishment, in accomplishing that end.” So we placed in 
the hands of every housewife in America the card, unaddressed, 
without stamps—the rural and city carriers rendering most excel¬ 
lent service—we placed those cards in the hands of every housewife 
in America and secured their hearty cooperation and assistance that 
enabled us to respond to every demand made upon this country in 
that particular. [Applause.] 


8 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


I have not yet recounted them all. I have not mentioned the 
u espionage ” act or the “ trading with the enemy ” act. They were 
a responsibility imposed upon the Postal Establishment. To exclude 
from the mails treasonable and seditious matter it became necessary 
for the postmasters throughout the country to read not only the 
English papers but to acquaint themselves with the contents of news¬ 
papers regardless of whether they were printed in Hungarian, 
Polish, Italian, French, Yiddish, or what not. That was the most 
undesirable task ever imposed upon the Postal Establishment. But 
“ we got away with it! ” [Applause.] Notwithstanding the fact 
that the Postmaster General was denounced from one end of the 
country to the other as an autocrat, a tyrant, and a person who was 
constantly practicing arbitrary acts, we enforced that law with 
moderation, with justice, and with fairness. It is a source of great 
satisfaction that in every instance where the actions of the Postal 
Establishment were challenged in the courts we were upheld. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

Considering these conditions, are you surprised that criticism 
should be directed against the Postal Establishment? Much of it 
was unjust, but all of it in a way was thoroughly natural, and, “honest 
Injun,” I have no complaint whatever to make about it. 

Think for a moment: The Second Assistant Postmaster General 
tells me that in the months preceding the taking over by the Govern¬ 
ment of the railroads of this country there were more than 97,000 
misconnections of mail trains; and yet many, when they did not get 
their mail promptly, just as they had before the war, denounced the 
Postal Establishment. I did not blame them. They did not stop 
to think. With 97,000 misconnections of trains, every one delaying 
quantities of mail and some of them vast quantities, what else could 
be expected? We exercised no control whatever over these trains; 
neither did the postmasters, the post-office inspectors, nor the assist¬ 
ant postmasters general; and even the Postmaster General himself, 
autocratic, arbitrary, and tyrannical as he was, could not control it. 
[Laughter and applause.] 

But I had no complaint to make about the criticisms of the Postal 
Service growing out of these matters. There was some basis for it. 
It is true that we exercised no control over the conditions that brought 
it about, but there was some basis for it, and it was honest criticism, 
honest complaint. 

But there are criticisms that are unfair; I shall characterize them 
as spurious criticism. With reference to these criticisms, there are 
some that I want you to know about—criticisms that are not offered 
in a constructive way, or for the improvement of the service, but to 
bring about a change of policy upon the part of the Postal Estab¬ 
lishment and thereby undo some of the things tjiat have been done. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


9 


Every one of the things that has been done I believe to have been in 
the interest of the Postal Service and of the American people. [Ap¬ 
plause.] I will give you some of the details, though I did not intend 
to do it. [Cries of “ Go ahead! ” “ Go ahead! ”] Well, I will give 
you a detail or two. 

When I came to the head of the Postal Establishment one of the 
first investigations I made was of the Parcel Post Service. It was a 
new service, and it seemed to be starting off haltingly. There ,was 
but a little development of its growth. I concluded I would look 
into it and see what the trouble was. The American people had been 
agitating for years in favor of the Parcel Post Service, and yet it 
seemed that after it had been established they were not inclined to 
patronize and develop it. What was the matter? Now, I do not 
know how it was brought about, and, frankly, I do npt care. I do 
not think there was any sinister purpose in it—well, not too sinister. 
[Laughter.] I discovered that the parcel-post rates were so adjusted 
that within certain zones, where it was profitable to carry parcels, the 
Postal Establishment got but little of the business, but in the zones 
beyond, where it was unprofitable and the traffic was carried at a 
loss, the burden was imposed upon the Postal Establishment. Gen¬ 
tlemen, what was my duty? I was here serving the Government of 
the United States, trying to improve the Postal Service and to render 
service to the masses of the people. Under the law I was given the 
authority to adjust those rates, and I did adjust them, and skimmed 
some of the cream of the traffic for the Postal Establishment. 
[Applause.] 

How did I adjust those rates? Did I adjust them by raising the 
rates and diminishing the weights of the parcel ? No. That would 
not have been in the interest of the American people. I readjusted 
them by lowering the rates and increasing the weight of the parcel. 
Almost instantly the result of that action was reflected in the returns 
of revenues, and from that moment we passed permanently from a 
deficiency to a surplus basis in the Postal Establishment. [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

What happened? Of course, it was perfectly natural that those 
adversely affected by it—and I will not say who was affected by that 
action of mine, but they were comparatively few and represented by 
about five corporations—immediately became very critical of the 
Postal Service, and especially critical of the Postmaster General. 
They were not without their influence. Do you know that on one 
of the rare occasions since I have been Postmaster General that I have 
returned to Texas for a few days, when I reached Washington I 
found that the authority given to the Postmaster General to read¬ 
just those parcel-post rates was about to be taken away from him, 
and the effort failed in the United States Senate by only one vote ? 


10 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Of course, there was criticism, criticism not for the purpose of 
benefiting or improving the Postal Service, but criticism which it 
was thought would result in a change of policy of the Postal Estab¬ 
lishment. 

But that has all passed away. It is true one of the great express 
companies u went upon the rocks,” went into the hands of a receiver 
and closed out its affairs. To-day nearly all of them are operating 
on a deficiency basis. I regret it. I did not want to injure them in 
the slightest. That was not the purpose of my action. My action 
was prompted by a desire to do the right by the American people 
and to further develop the Postal Establishment for their use and 
benefit. [Applause.] 

Inasmuch as I have started, I might as well go on. [Laughter 
and cries of “ Go on! ”] 

When I came to the head of the Postal Establishment, the Second 
Assistant Postmaster General was a man by the name of Stewart, a 
Kansas Republican. He had made a most careful study, painstaking 
and earnest, covering a period of years, with a view to ascertaining 
what would be a just and a fair plan for compensating the great rail¬ 
roads for moving the mails. He recommended a change of the then 
existing plan. I am not going into the dry details of it, but he recom¬ 
mended what was called the “ space basis ” plan, under which the 
Government would pay the railroads for every inch of space they 
used for the purpose of carrying the mails, and not one square inch 
more. This to replace the antiquated, obsolete, and unscientific sys¬ 
tem w T hich had existed for many years—since 1873, I think—and 
which required the weighing of the mails in one quarter of the coun¬ 
try quadrennially, and then next year another, and the next year 
another, and the next year another, a system about which the rail¬ 
roads constantly complained, saying it was unjust, unfair, and 
claimed they wanted a weighing all over the country each year. Of 
course, you gentlemen who are connected with the Postal Service 
know the impracticability of that plan, and that the cost of it alone 
made it economical^ unsound and impossible. 

On one occasion I had the presidents of 15 railroads appear before 
me in my office to discuss this matter and I discussed it with them, 
because I had made up my mind what was right. I am only afraid 
of one thing and that is doing wrong. I may be in error, but when¬ 
ever I make up my mind a thing is right I drive forward. [Ap¬ 
plause.] I discussed the matter with these gentlemen with abso¬ 
lute frankness and candor. I told them I thought the system in 
vogue was antiquated, obsolete, and unscientific; that it ought to 
be abandoned, and that I was in favor of the space basis. I said, 
“ If you are not in favor of this, what are you in favor of? ” They 
said, “ We are in favor of continuing the present weight system and 
an annual weighing.” I pointed out in a few words that it was im- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


11 


possible to have an annual weighing on account of the expense, and, 
above all, the trouble and inconvenience it would cause to the serv¬ 
ice. One of the gentlemen said, “ We will bear the expense of it.” 
I said, “ Put that in writing and submit it to me to-morrow morn¬ 
ing.” But it never came. [Laughter.] 

They laughed at the suggestion of changing the system or the plan. 
They said, “ Oh, we have heard that before, Mr. Postmaster Gen¬ 
eral ”—you know I was new then—“ time and time again, Mr. Post¬ 
master General.” They said, “ That is a dream; forget it,” I said, 
“ Gentlemen, I want to be absolutely just and fair to the railroads. 
I want to give you an adequate, just compensation for the services 
which you render the Government of the United States in transport¬ 
ing this mail.” I remember distinctly that I used this illustration. 
I said to the president of one of the railroads, “ I would just as 
soon think of running my hand in your pocket and stealing your 
watch as to ask you to render a service for a compensation that was 
less than just and fair. I want to give your company every dollar 
that this service is worth, but not one cent more,” 

I entered upon that struggle. Immediately the sluice gates of 
criticism and denunciation—not to use stronger terms—were opened 
and directed against the head of the Postal Department, as being a 
man lacking in vision and business qualifications. But that seems 
to be the chord upon which they delight to play, that I am lacking 
in business qualifications. I. want to say to you, gentlemen, that all 
the best experts of the Postal Establishment concurred in the views 
of Mr. Stewart and agreed with me that the space basis should 
be adopted. Believing that it ought to be, I drove forward. So 
successful were the opposition in resisting what the department was 
contending for, and in order to defeat our efforts, they strangled the 
great appropriation bills for the Postal Establishment that year, 
and for the first time in its history the department was operated 
under a continuing resolution. 

There was some cause for grievance, but no cause for just com¬ 
plaint. I told them when they laughed at me—“ Gentlemen, let me 
tell you something. I was on that hill for 14 years, and I was not 
asleep. I know just exactly how the wheels go around up there, and 
mark my prediction, this proposition is sound, it is just, it is right, 
and it is going to prevail,” and the next time it did prevail [ap¬ 
plause], and under its operation legitimate, fair, just savings to the 
postal establishment have been effected to an amount that it takes 
eight figures to express. [Applause.] So critics that w T ere born of 
that contest were added to those born of the action that I had taken 
in the matter of the express companies and the parcel post. 

I do not complain. It is human nature that they should not like it, 
and I do not make any particular complaint as to the criticisms that 
greeted the outgrowth of that action on the part of the postal estab- 


12 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


lishment; but would I give up by reversing the action that was taken ? 
Never, never, never. 

But that is not all. I discovered in that fight that there was such 
a thing as a man “ digging up too many snakes ” at one time; so in 
conference with men who are my advisers in the Postal Service, 
men like First Assistant Postmaster General Koons [applause] and 
the then Chief Inspector, Joe P. Johnston [applause], I concluded 
that I would dig up just one at a time and “ scotch it,” and then move 
on to another hole. 

The next thing to which I turned my attention was the pneumatic 
tubes. [Laughter.] I had nothing against the pneumatic tubes. 
I was not a postal expert. I was just temporarily at the head of the 
establishment. 

But when I commenced to dig into that matter I found that Mr. 
Justice Moody, when a Member of the House of Representatives, said 
at the time this service was inaugurated that it was conceived in sin 
and born in iniquity, and would ultimately prove a stain upon the 
Postal Establishment. I was told by every expert with whom I talked 
that it was a useless expenditure of money; that it was really of little 
or no service; and that already we had expended millions of dollars 
of the postal revenues for this useless facility, which should have 
gone into the extension and improvement of the service and the lower¬ 
ing of postal rates. So, believing in my men, and after making an 
investigation, I reached the conclusion—I did not merely take their 
words for it, but I made an investigation of it for myself—that they 
were right; that all these postal experts consulted were right. Not 
one of them raised a dissenting voice to my conclusion, but denounced 
the tubes as useless. So I concluded that I would recommend that 
they be abolished; and oh, what a contest was had! But finally, 
with the assistance of that wonderful man in the White House [pro¬ 
longed applause], who finally was called upon to go to the bottom of 
this matter, and who did go to the bottom of it, we abandoned the use 
of the tubes; and, of course, to the critics who* had been brought into 
existence when the parcel post rates were reduced, to the critics that 
were added thereto when the space-basis system was adopted, were 
added the critics of that great accomplishment, the abolishment of 
the pneumatic tubes. I could easily secure them all as proponents 
and earnest advocates of the postal establishments as the most effi¬ 
cient in the history of the world by reversing our policies and actions. 
But never, never, never! [Applause.] 

For years and years every Postmaster General had recommended 
that there be an increase of the second-class postage rate. All who 
were looking at it and dealing with it from the public standpoint, 
an unselfish standpoint, agreed that it ought to be done, but they 
were interfered with and obstructed. However, finally a commis¬ 
sion was appointed, at the head of which was Mr. Justice Hughes,. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


is 


the Republican candidate for President at the last election, which 
unanimously reported that there should be an increase in those 
rates. I advocated it because I believed it was right. I continued to 
advocate it, and in the first revenue bill that was framed, those 
men on the hill were looking in every direction for revenue, and 
they came and said, “ You have been advocating this for years, 
why is it not right that there should be not only an increase of the 
first-class postage rate, but an increase of the second, third, and 
fourth ? ” I soon convinced them that an increase of the third and 
fourth class rate would result in a loss rather than an increase of 
revenue, and that idea was abondoned. I said to them, furthermore, 
“ Gentlemen, I do not want the Postal Establishment to be used as a 
revenue producer. I do not want a surplus in the Postal Establish¬ 
ment.” [Applause.] “I want intelligent economy practiced; I 
want the highest standard of efficiency maintained, and, of course, if 
we can make it self-supporting, then I want to do that, but I do not 
desire a surplus.” I said that because I know a large surplus would 
afford an attractive field for exploitation of all those selfish inter¬ 
ests that would immediately reach out for that surplus. 

I begged them not to raise the postage rate, but they were deter¬ 
mined to do it, and when they called upon us for assistance in fram¬ 
ing the schedules for second-class mail we assisted them as far as 
we could. The law was enacted. It is now on the statute books, 
and for the first time second-class mail is bearing a fair and only 
a fair proportion of the burdens that properly belong to it. [Ap¬ 
plause.] It may be undone. At first I did not believe that the 
system adopted by the Congress was a wise system. I was in favor 
of a flat rate of 1 cent on reading matter, and then a higher flat 
rate on advertising matter, believing that was the best system at the 
time. Since then I have looked into it more carefully, and the men 
associated with me have also looked into it, with a view to seeing 
whether or not this is a just and fair plan. It is just and fair, and 
I stand for it, and it will not be repealed because of any action on 
my part, regardless of how widespread the criticism may be or how 
denunciatory its terms. [Applause.] 

I could go on and tell you more, but I do not want to talk too long. 
I want to say to you that wherever the interests of the Postal Service 
are threatened by an attempt to impair its efficiency or to exploit its 
revenues, I do not care how highly organized or how widespread 
such effort may be, I shall stand against it. [Applause.] 

It would amuse you, gentlemen, to see the character of some of these 
spurious criticisms. I will give you an illustration. Just recently 
there was an unfortunate case of serious illness in Philadelphia, and 
the poor victim was a woman, and she died. A most lurid story was 
written up of attempts that had been made to use the telephone service, 


14 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


and that was found to be broken down; of attempts to use the Postal 
Service, and that was found to be broken dow r n; of attempts to use 
the telegraph service, and that was found to be broken down; and 
that because of these failures of these public utilities the necessary 
aid and assistance failed to reach this unfortunate woman, and she 
died. It was a pathetic story. Immediately orders were given by 
the First Assistant Postmaster General to have the matter investi¬ 
gated—to go to the bottom of it. The inspector in charge at Phila¬ 
delphia did investigate it, and when the facts were disclosed and the 
truth was known there was no fault to be found with the telephone 
service, none with the telegraph service, and no just complaint against 
the Postal Service. Those facts were laid before some of the papers 
publishing those criticisms. Did they correct it ? Oh, no! 

I will give you another illustration: Day after day in two of the 
great newspapers in one of the metropolitan cities of the United 
States there were criticisms of the Postal Establishment. Day after 
day, week after week, it was continued. Finally, on the same day 
there were two of those criticisms, one in one paper and another in 
the other, and a name was signed to each and the address given. 
There was a wealth of detail that enabled us to get hold of something. 
I immediately sent it to the efficient inspector in charge at New York 
and said, “ Go to the bottom of this.” What do you suppose we dis¬ 
covered? We discovered that the names were fictitious, and one of 
the addresses given, I understand, was that of the agent of one of 
these facilities that had been abandoned by the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment, and the other address was that of its principal lobbyist. 
[Laughter.] I wrote a ver}^ courteous letter—not with the view of 
having it published at all, because I did not care whether it was 
published or not—to each one of those newspapers calling their at¬ 
tention to the facts over the signature of a sworn, conscientious 
officer of the Government of the United States. Was any amende 
honorable done ? Oh, no! 

Some newspaper wrote a most terrific tirade against the Postal Es¬ 
tablishment and the Postal Service, telling how inefficient it had 
become, how it had broken down, how it seemed to be hopelessly 
mired in a quagmire of inefficiency. The First Assistant Postmaster 
General sent it to the inspector in charge of that division and said, 
“ Look into this and see if you can find what the trouble is.” Gentle¬ 
men, we are always anxious to respond to just criticism. We said, 
“ Find out what the trouble is and remedy it.” The inspector went to 
this editor and said to him, “ I am here to find out where this ineffi¬ 
ciency exists. I want you to point it out to me. I want your 
assistance in remedying it, if possible.” What do you suppose the 
editor said in reply? lie finally said, “ Mr. Inspector, to tell the 
truth, I have been writing editorials like that for 18 years and I 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 15 

don’t know of anything to complain about in the Postal Service.” 
[Laughter.] 

Of course, criticism of that kind can not be met. Criticism hav¬ 
ing its source in selfishness, and having for its purpose the undoing 
of wholesome things that have been done in furtherance of postal 
interests, can not be met. I have brought you here for the purpose 
of having you advise with the heads of these bureaus and divisions, 
to see what can be done toward betterment of the service. I have been 
invited to meet you here, through Mr. Koons—and it was his sugges¬ 
tion and not mine, because I am so accustomed to taking criticism 
without complaint that the thought never would have occurred to 
me. You have been assembled here to meet representatives of the 
Bankers’ Association, of the Chamber of Commerce, the Boards of 
Trade, and the Merchants’ Associations for an exchange of honest 
views, with the view of improving the Postal Service if it is possible 
to do so. In addition to the ones I have named, we have invited 
here representatives from the great business houses of America, those 
who use the Postal Service more than any other patrons. They are 
all here. 

I want you and invite you, gentlemen, speaking to those now who 
represent the business interests particularly, to make known the 
criticisms which you have of the Postal Service. I do not want you 
to be mealy-mouthed about it. Wherever the service needs improve¬ 
ment, and in your opinion you can make a suggestion that will 
improve it, I beg of you to make it known; and I want to say to 
you that right in this room we have the inspectors in charge, we have 
the superintendents of the Railway Mail Service, and the post¬ 
masters of the largest cities of the United States. In this room are 
the men who are responsible for good service. If there is good 
service, satisfactory service, efficient service, these are entitled to 
the credit. If there is bad service, unsatisfactory service, inefficient 
service, I take the responsibility upon my own shoulders, because 
if there is such condition existing it is because of my inability to 
inspire these men to proper effort to make the service good. [Ap¬ 
plause.] I want you not only to make criticism, but I invite you 
that if there are criticisms to be made they be not mild criticisms. 
I pledge you in advance—because I know these men; I know their 
earnest desire to render efficient public service—that every knock will 
be welcome to these men provided there is an honest desire behind 
it for an improvement of the Postal Service. 

I thank you, gentlemen, for your attention. [Applause.] 

(An informal impromptu reception was held by the Postmaster 
General, to whom all members of the conference were introduced by 
First Assistant Postmaster General Koons, assisted by Hon. Colin M. 
Selph, postmaster at St. Louis, Mo.) 


16 POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 

ADDRESS BY HON. COLIN M. SELPH, POSTMASTER, ST. LOUIS, MO. 

Mr. Koons. The next thing on our morning’s program, gentle¬ 
men, will be an address by the president of the National Association of 
Postmasters, Hon. Colin M. Selph, of St. Louis. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. General Koons, distinguished guests, inspectors of the 
service, superintendents of the Railway Mail Service, and my fellow 
postmasters, this great country of ours evolved from a state of peace 
and prosperity to one of war, bringing with it self-denial and sacri¬ 
fice, and in the vortex of excitement and patriotic vitalization—it 
did not seem a stretching step—we loyally and bravely and success¬ 
fully crossed the divide! Now that we have achieved victory and 
quit warfare, and enter into a state of peace again, we must forget 
the excitement and again be calm and cool in thought and action. 
We must not forget that in the great era of reconstruction and re¬ 
adjustment that is here screaming for help we must cheerfully and 
intelligently extend our resources and vigor and energies, so as to 
lend a helpful hand in assisting in bringing about a restoration of 
economic equation in the United States and caring for our valiant 
sons who have made “America safe for Americans,” as well as having 
aided in making the “world safe for democracy”! 

We must seriously realize the danger apparent: That w T e are living 
in an atmosphere of hysterical propaganda, inspired by some fault¬ 
finding citizens—too many, in fact—who encourage the internal 
enemies of our Government. We must prevent the contagion of the 
spirit of Bolshevism from becoming epidemic in the United States 
or even in its atmospheric connections. We can do this in the de¬ 
mobilization of our military and naval organizations only when we 
prevent demoralization in our industrial, commercial, and financial 
affairs. We can, as responsible heads of important branches of the 
civil government, systematically organize our forces so that we may 
be equipped to assist these business concerns in out’ separate com 
munities to sustain their position against loss and damage in this 
great evolution incident to the readjustment that must take place. 

Particularly must we encourage a closer commercial union with 
foreign nations, and we can, in a great measure, do this by encourag¬ 
ing the use of the parcel-post system in exporting the commodities 
of the United States. By this method we can build up an export 
trade that will, in a short time, develop an American maritime force, 
so that our flag may fly upon the ships that ply the seas of commerce. 

Our responsibilities must extend much farther than the mere per¬ 
formance of our duty in efficiently handling the collection and de- 
livery of the United States mails. Under the administration of Post¬ 
master General Burleson and his assistants we have demonstrated 
to the people of the entire world that the American Postal Service is, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


17 


of that of all other countries, the most successfully and efficiently 
conducted, and this fact can not be truthfully contradicted, even by 
antagonistic and captious critics. Of course, we have been laboring 
under great difficulties, incident to the exigencies of the war, yet it 
must be appreciated that no department of the United States Govern¬ 
ment did so much to assist and aid in the work of preparation of the 
military and naval program for war, and thereafter in aiding the 
several departments of the Government in sustaining the life and 
force of our arms, as has been accomplished by the postmasters of 
the United States under the direction and leadership of Postmaster 
General Burleson. 

Great and serious problems now confront us, and we, as a most 
active section of administrative government, will be expected to pave 
the w T ay for action, for in many communities the only part of the 
Government apparent is the United States post office and its post¬ 
master. 

Therefore, if I may suggest it, it appears to me that we should not 
only standardize the postal business of the United States, now in our 
care and keeping, along the lines parallel with proven and practical 
successful business systems, but we should devote our best thought to 
stimulate and encourage the employees of the Postal Service, working 
with us and under us, to harmonize their thoughts and efforts and 
extend their energies and abilities so as to cohesively cooperate with 
each other in bringing about closer relationship and understanding. 
Let us work with each other, emancipating personal differences as to 
responsibility and ambition; let us call the United States mails 44 our 
mails,” construing that expression so that a closer partnership may 
be established and that derelictions, delays, and delinquencies may not 
be chargeable to any one section but a broader sense of responsibility 
be rested upon every division and section of the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment. 

Let us encourage the farmer, the factor, the merchant, the banker, 
the laborer, the artisan, the professional man to work in harmony, one 
with the other. We are strong enough to assume the responsibility 
of leadership in this great movement. Let us establish a precedent 
for the harmonizing of the elements in our communities, so that eco¬ 
nomic conditions may be restored without human suffering or finan¬ 
cial loss to our citizens. Let there be no partisanship in any of our 
official acts—rather, we must, all of us, if we are to set up proper ex¬ 
amples and standards, divorce ourselves from all connection with 
partisan politics and let our one thought be the success and welfare 
of the people of this great Nation, irrespective of political faith, for 
we must serve all the people if we are successful in serving any. 

113522°—19-2 


18 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Let us conduct our own affairs and, personally, ourselves so that 
the community interests may regard us as real representatives of the 
great Government which honors us with its faith and confidence in 
our ability and integrity. A great work awaits us, and in this hour, 
when the opinions of men are changing with the tide of events, let us 
stand steadfast in our purpose to be courageous and unselfish enough— 
yes, big and broad in our philosophy, untiring and indefatigable in our 
efforts—to carry on the work, to initiate greater work for greater 
deeds, never ceasing to aid and assist all those w r ho claim our support, 
so that in the end—and that day must come quite soon—it can be 
truthfully said that the postmasters of the United States have per¬ 
formed their duties in the achievement of the great era of prosperity, 
that must come naturally to the United States when the nations of the 
world shall again enjoy peace. 

I thank you. [Applause.] 

CLOSING REMARKS BY FIRST ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL 

KOONS. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the purpose of the calling of this confer¬ 
ence has not been a new idea with me, but it is one that I have cher¬ 
ished for the last two years or ever since I have held my present 
position. Of course, as you remember, I was appointed right in the 
midst of a political campaign, and there was some question about 
how long we would preside over the destinies of the Post Office De¬ 
partment. Soon after that was settled we became involved in this 
terrible war. Of course, it was impossible to call a conference of 
this kind at that time, because policies that might be outlined to-day 
would be impracticable to-morrow. We had to adjust our service 
from day to day to meet the conditions which we were facing. For 
that reason we postponed this conference until after the war. 

The armistice was signed on November 11, and we were then in 
the midst of our “ Christmas holidays ” rush. So that, as soon as 
possible after the Christmas holidays were over, we took steps to 
bring you men together. 

The first thing I wanted to do was to find out what the conditions 
are in the Postal Service. Frankly, I did not rely on the postmasters 
solely to furnish me with this information—not that I did not have 
confidence in them, but I wanted to be sure that they had the proper 
viewpoint—so early in January we addressed a letter to the postmas¬ 
ter of each first and second class office. We asked him to make a 
survey of the conditions in his office; that we were now in the period 
of reconstruction, with many things that could not be looked after 
during the war which must now be given attention. We asked them 
to go over the conditions thoroughly and report to us whether the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


19 


service was on an efficient basis; if not, what was necessary to make 
it meet the needs of the public. At the same time w r e sent out those 
letters I sent out a letter to 10,000 organizations and firms throughout 
the United States. We did not ask them for compliments on service. 
It was a plain, frank letter, right from the heart, asking what could 
be done to improve the service, what could be done to better it and to 
make it meet the needs of the public, because the Postal Service is a 
service of the public; it should be conducted for the benefit of the 
public, and it should be made to meet public necessities. By that I 
do not mean that we should have any fancy or special service, but it 
should be a service that will meet the needs of the public and the 
business men. 

These letters were sent to firms throughout the United States, very 
few of whom were known to me personally. We received from the 
10,000 letters about 4,000 replies. Be it said to the credit of you gen¬ 
tlemen who were administering the service in the different cities that 
those responses were very complimentary, generally speaking. It was 
said in one of the papers when we sent out this letter, one of the papers 
commenting on it editorially, “ We have heard of people going out 
and openly defying the lightning, but this is the first time we have 
ever seen it done.” I had confidence enough in the service to believe 
that the public would be honest with us. If we were giving good serv¬ 
ice, they would say so; if it was not good, they would say so. Of the 
replies received there were 7.8 per cent that complained of the service 
given. The remainder complimented it. So that after all we have not 
defied the lightning recklessly, as some might have thought. 

In receiving the responses to our inquiries we obtained a check. 
We matched them up against reports made by the postmasters. It 
required about two months for the replies to come in, because a 
number of business organizations had to take up the matter and make 
their own investigations. I want to express my appreciation of what 
the business men did in this respect. With very few exceptions, and 
they were very rare indeed, the suggestions and the criticisms were 
made in good faith and with a view to helping us to make the Postal’ 
Service what it should be. 

We have brought together the postmasters from 75 of the largest 
cities of the United States. Fifty of the largest cities constitute half 
of our Postal Service, so that we have with us to-day the postmasters 
representing more than 50 per cent of the entire Postal Service. You 
gentlemen represent a service that is to-day doing a business of 
$375,000,000 annually, and in addition to that collecting a war tax of 
about $70,000,000. Most of our business is in small transactions, 
1 and 2 cent transactions, so you can readily see the immense volume 
of this business. 


20 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


In calling you here we have done that which, it seems to me, any 
business corporation would do. We have called together the heads 
of the service. We have called together the men from large cities; 
we have invited the 15 superintendents of the Railway Mail Service; 
we have invited the 15 inspectors in charge, who are all with us. They 
represent the three big problems of the Postal Service—one, the 
inspectors whose duty it is to inspect all Postal Service; the other 
the Railway Mail Service, which has charge of the transportation of 
the mails; and the third is the First Assistant’s representatives, who 
have charge of the handling of mail in the cities. 

To meet you gentlemen we have invited representatives of business 
organizations. It was impossible to invite them all. My first inten¬ 
tion was to ask the business organization of the city from which the 
postmaster came to send its representative. But, unfortunately, in 
the dying hours of Congress one of our appropriations failed and 
left us without money to pay expenses. Not only that, but we really 
have had to curtail the service. I am not as conscientious about ask¬ 
ing the postmasters to come at their own expense as I am about asking 
the business organizations, so I did not want to ask the business 
organizations from distant cities to send their representatives from 
each city. However, I did ask the United States Chamber of Com¬ 
merce, the Merchants’ Association, the American Bankers’ Associa¬ 
tion, the Publishers’ Postal Service, representatives of the press asso¬ 
ciations, and a number of the largest users of the mails to send a 
representative here. I want to express my appreciation of what they 
have done. 

We have not outlined any program. This is your meeting. We 
want these men who represent the business men.of the country to be 
frank and open with us and tell us where the service can be improved. 
We want these postmasters, these superintendents of the Railway 
Mail Service, and these inspectors to tell us how we can put those 
improvements in effect. I pledge you my word that any improvement 
suggested that is practical and is warranted by the needs of the serv¬ 
ice and can be put into effect without change of law will be put into 
effect just as soon as it is possible to do it. Those that can not be 
put into effect without change of law we will recommend to Con¬ 
gress as soon as it convenes. 

You men have been called here solely for a business purpose; not 
to discuss politics nor the league of nations nor any of the other 
many things with which we have been charged as bringing you here 
to consider. You are here solely for business. 

I have talked with a number of you since your arrival, and it seems 
to me the quickest way we can get into working order and bring the 
matters before us that are to be considered, with as little waste of 
time as possible, is to appoint a committee to receive the suggestions 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


21 


for improvements in the service and the matters that the men here 
want brought up for discussion. I anticipate these suggestions will 
come from every city in the United States. 

I neglected to say, I believe, that 41 of the States are represented 
here by postmasters, and when you take together the postmasters and 
the Railway Mail Service and the inspectors in charge, I think every 
State in the Union is represented. 

So we will appoint a committee, and we will ask that committee 
if they will go to work as rapidly as possible so we can start our 
discussion on the various matters. We will give the committee room 
523, upstairs, for their use. We want every representative of a 
business organization, every superintendent of the Railway Mail 
Service, every inspector in charge, and every postmaster to do us 
the kindness of submitting to this committee, as promptly as possible, 
the various matters which you wish considered. As members of that 
committee I have selected the following gentlemen—and this is the 
only selection I am going to make of any committee; the balance of 
this meeting I am going to leave entirely with you gentlemen. If 
it is not convenient for some of you business men to be here all the 
time, I will appreciate it if you will give me as much of your time 
as possible. For the members of this committee I have selected 
Mr. Charles J. Bell, of Washington, D. C., representing the Ameri¬ 
can Bankers’ Association; Mr. F. B. De Berarcl, representing the 
Merchants’ Association of New York; Mr. George Rosenberg, repre¬ 
senting the Publishers’ Postal Service, New .York City; Mr. A. B. 
Schmidt, representing Sears-Roebuck & Co., of Chicago; Mr. Colin 
M. Selph, postmaster at St. Louis; Mr. T. G. Patten, postmaster at 
New York; Mr. Charles Janvier, postmaster at New Orleans; Mr. 
George A. Leonard, inspector in charge of the Philadelphia division; 
Mr. Rudolph S. Brauer, superintendent of Railway Mail Service, 
fourteenth division, Omaha; D. A. Skinner, representing the United 
States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D. C.; and Mr. B. L. 
Fairfield, representing the Chicago Association of Commerce. 

If there is any representative here of any organization that is not 
recognized on this committee, I hope you will let me know, because 
it is my earnest desire to give every interest representation on that 
committee. 

Gentlemen, if you will please submit to this committee this after¬ 
noon some of the topics, we can take up those and begin the confer¬ 
ence while the committee is working on the balance of them. 

If there is nothing further at this time, it has been suggested that 
we take a recess until 3 o’clock. If that meets with the approval 
of the gentlemen present, we will stand at recess until 3 o’clock this 
afternoon. 

(Thereupon, at 1 o’clock p. m., a recess was taken until 3 o’clock 

p. m.) 


22 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


AFTER RECESS. 


Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the committee appointed this morning is 
working upstairs, having just fairly gotten under way because of the 
late hour at which we adjourned for luncheon and because of the diffi¬ 
culty of getting them together for their first meeting. So that as yet 
they have not turned any business over to us for this afternoon. They 
w r ill sit in conference all the afternoon, however, and I urge all that 
are here who have any matters they want discussed to submit them 
to the committee during the day. In order to give full opportunity 
to do this, the committee suggested that we have no business meeting 
this afternoon, but that we start at 10.30 to-morrow morning promptly 
and from that time on we will endeavor to transact our business just 
as rapidly as we can, because we do not want to keep you a moment 
longer than we have to. 

Before you leave I desire to bring to your attention an invitation 
from the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, ad¬ 
dressed to the postmaster at Washington, D. C.: 


Dear Mr. Chance : I will appreciate it very much if you will extend an invita¬ 
tion on my behalf to the postmasters and those visiting the conference to visit 
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing any morning this week between the hours 
of 10 and 11. I shall be pleased to see them, and wish you would drop me a line 
as to what particular time they may be expected. 

Very sincerely, 

James L. Wilmeth. 


As you know, our postage stamps are printed in the Bureau of 
Engraving and Printing. I do not know how many of you have 
seen the operation of printing stamps, but it is very interesting. 
Mr. Wilmeth is very anxious for you gentlemen to come over and go 
through the bureau and has agreed to show you not only how stamps 
are printed, but how they make money. What is your pleasure with 
reference to this matter? 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma). I move that we accept the invitation for 
Thursday, day after to-morrow, at a time to be arranged by Mr. 
Koons. 

(The motion was seconded and unanimously carried.) 

Mr. Koons. I wish to suggest again that it will greatly facilitate 
the business of our meeting if you gentlemen who have suggestions 
that you want to submit for the consideration of this conference will 
take them to room 523 and turn them over to the committee this 
afternoon, so that to-morrow morning we can start in promptly with 
our work at 10.30. 

Mr. Springsteen (Indianapolis). Mr. Chairman, I am not clear 
about the suggestions we are expected to make. I came from home 
with some recommendations that I want to take up with the Second 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


23 


Assistant Postmaster General. I, of course, believe they could be 
thrashed out between myself and the Second Assistant, but do you 
want those to go through this committee? 

Mr. Koons. I would suggest that all of them be submitted to the 
committee. 

Mr. Springsteen. Not in detail? 

Mr. Koons. Not in detail, no; but just subjects generally. My 
idea is that we take up first the subjects in which the public are in¬ 
terested, in which these business men are interested, the matters 
that touch on handling the service so far as the public is concerned. 
The other matters w T e will take up immediately after that so that 
if any of these representatives of business concerns have to leave for 
home tliej w r ill have had advantage of the discussion of as many of 
the matters affecting them as possible before they leave. The other 
matters affecting internal arrangements of the servioe we will take 
up last. Any suggestion which you have should be presented to the 
committee. There is a representative of the Second Assistant on 
that committee, likewise a representative of the post-office inspectors, 
as well as a number of representatives of business associations. I 
would suggest that any matter which you have be presented to that 
committee, except something like additional clerk hire, or additional 
carriers, which I know hone of you want. [Laughter.] 

If there is nothing further, gentlemen, the conference will now 
stand adjourned until to-morrow morning at half past 10. 

(Thereupon, at 3.30 o’clock p. m. an adjournment was taken until 
to-morrow, Wednesday, April 2, 1919, at 10.30 o’clock a. m.) 


SECOND DAY. 


Post Office Department, 

Washington , D. 6 y ., April 0, 1919. 

The conference reconvened pursuant to adjournment and was 
called to order by First Assistant Postmaster General John C. Koons 
at 10.55 o’clock a. m. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the committee having charge of the topics, 
through its chairman, has just informed me they will submit their 
report in 15 or 20 minutes. We intend to utilize that time to the 
best advantage and I have therefore asked Gov. Dockery, the Third 
Assistant Postmaster General, who is, I think, better known than 
any man connected with the Postal Service, to address you. It now 
gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Hon. A. M. Dockery, 
Third Assistant Postmaster General. 

(The members of the conference rose and greeted Gov. Dockery 
with prolonged applause.) 



24 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


ADDRESS BY HON. A. M. DOCKERY, THIRD ASSISTANT POST¬ 
MASTER GENERAL. 

Mr. Dockery. Gentlemen of the conference, I have always held 
your distinguished presiding officer, Mr. Ivoons, in very high esteem, 
but he has raised a serious question of doubt in my mind as to his 
real friendship when he came to me a few moments ago and asked 
me to “fill in” for 10 or 15 minutes wdiile awaiting the report of 
the committee that is now “making proceedings for the meeting.” 
[Laughter.] That is the way a good old friend in Missouri once 
expressed the usual motion to appoint a committee on rules and 
order of business. 

I am strictly nonpartisan, as you know [laughter], just as you are, 
and, of course, do not intend to invade the political arena; but I do 
desire to avail myself of the privilege of the kind invitation of Mr. 
Koons to express my unaffected pleasure at meeting so many repre¬ 
sentative postmasters and postal officials of the United States. I 
heard the very high encomiums pronounced on your services yester¬ 
day by our distinguished chief in an address which, in my judgment, 
was one of the best I ever heard him or anyone else make on postal 
affairs. I am pleased to concur most heartily in the tributes he paid 
you so deservedly. 

The postmasters, especially since the 6th of April, 1917, have had 
my sincere sympathy, because upon them was devolved, as so w T ell 
stated by the Postmaster General yesterday, the performance of 
staggering burdens incident to war activities, without a cent of addi¬ 
tional compensation. I have occasion to know officially that those 
duties were performed faithfully and loyally, and if the postmasters 
had done nothing else to aid the Government in the times of stress 
through which we have passed, they would be entitled to the com¬ 
mendation of the department and of the people—•“ Well done, good 
and faithful servants.” I know postmasters and other postal officials 
have been working overtime, and while the duties have been onerous, 
yet we at the National Capital have also been working overtime and 
have performed our duties, as I am sure you have discharged yours,, 
with patriotic pleasure. 

I am going to say a word now about the bureau over which I have 
the honor to preside. First, I wish to speak with reference to the 
work of the Division of Classification in so far as it relates to the ad¬ 
ministration of the zone law which became operative on July 1 last. 
The zone act, in its passage through Congress, had a somewhat 
tempestous journey, but it finally became a law. In pursuance of the 
instructions of the Postmaster General, that law has been adminis¬ 
tered with the desire to smooth out the wrinkled front of a somewhat 
complaining situation, so far as practicable, and to lighten the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


25 


burdens of postmasters in its administration and at the same time 
please the press and the patrons of the Postal Service. I believe the 
administration of the law, upon the whole, has been successful. I 
do not know what may be its future, but we have tried to administer 
it, as suggested by the Postmaster General yesterday, so as to avoid 
friction where possible to do so, and I believe we have succeeded. 

The Bureau of the Third Assistant has had in charge the sale of 
war-savings and thrift stamps. The Post Office Department in 
the performance of this duty is simply the sales and collecting 
agency for the Treasury Department. The fundamental regula¬ 
tions for the sale of the stamps were made by the Treasury officials, 
some of them against the judgment of Mr. Koons and myself, but 
it became our duty, as the law commanded, to cooperate with the 
Treasury Department, and we did so cheerfully. I am profoundly 
gratified to say that from the time the sales began in December of 
1917, until the 25th of last month, as the Treasury deposits will 
show, the Post Office Department led the way. There was de¬ 
posited in the Treasury from the sale of the stamps during the entire 
sales period up to the close of business on the 25th of March, 
$1,296,970,982.73. That is not the accounting total, because the 
auditing is necessarily a little behind, but those figures represent the 
money that has been actually deposited in the Treasury. The Post¬ 
master General stated that we had sold 80 per cent of all the stamps 
sold. That percentage, however, related to the sales prior to the 
1st of last January. Since the first of this year there has been 
deposited in the Treasury $94,815,024.82. Adding that sum to the 
deposits prior to the 1st of January, we have a flattering result to 
submit in honor of the Postal Service. We have, in fact, sold 83.3 
per cent of all the stamps sold. [Applause.] 

The postmasters ofttimes have performed much of this work out¬ 
side of regular hours, giving up other private and public activities 
in which they were interested. In my own little city in Missouri, 
for instance, the postmaster at one time was at the head of many 
local movements, but so exacting and numerous were the duties 
devolved upon him as the result of the world war that he has had 
to limit his activities solely to postal affairs. This, I am sure, is 
true throughout the Postal Service generally. 

In the Finance Division a little more than $200,000,000 of warrants 
were issued during the year. That division issues warrants when 
you postmasters are not required by law to pay postal liabilities. 
Of course, you pay your own clerical force, but contracts and other 
obligations of the Postal Service not required to be paid by you 
are met by warrants of the Finance Division. I refer to this duty 
simply to lead up to one fact which I desire to impress upon you, 
and that is the recent record shown in that division by the postal 


26 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


receipts of the 50 largest post offices. I believe we have present at 
this conference practically every postmaster representing the 50 
great post offices of the United States. These 50 offices produce 
usually about 50 per cent of the postal revenues of the United States. 
In November, compared with the corresponding month of the previous 
year, there was a pronounced decline in postal revenues, amounting 
to 5.10 per cent. It was so pronounced that for a moment we were 
staggered by it. 

We did not at first quite understand the cause of this decline, but 
with the gradual passing of the influenza and an increase in revenues 
of 4.88 in December over the corresponding month of the previous 
year, we knew that it was partly due to the demoralizing effect of this 
epidemic upon the business of the country. In January the revenues 
from the 50 great offices showed an increase of 12.43 per cent, and in 
February the increase w T as over 9 per cent. 

I call your attention, gentlemen, to the returns for those four 
months for the purpose of inspiring optimism along business lines. In 
some quarters you hear the opinion expressed that even now'this coun¬ 
try is on the threshold of a period of industrial depression. If the 
returns following the month of November had shown a decline in 
postal revenues similar to that shown for November, then that opinion 
would have substantial foundation; but, gentlemen, you know from 
long experience in the Postal Service that the postal revenue is an 
accurate barometer of business conditions—better than any other 
single agency. Why is that ? It is because these revenues come from 
every village, every hamlet, and every city in the country, and when¬ 
ever there is a period of depression it is immediately reflected in de¬ 
cline of postal revenues. When business generally is moving along at 
a normal pace it is shown in the postal revenues, and whenever there 
is an increase in the volume of business throughout the country it is 
shown in increasing receipts at post offices. So I say to you that, 
tested by this standard, which is as old as the Postal Service itself, you 
should go back to your people and tell them that barring one possible, 
but not probable, catastrophe, we are at the beginning of a period of 
industrial prosperity that will continue almost certainly for the next 
few years. [Applause.] 

Some of you older men—only a very few of you, judging from your 
youthful appearance—will remember that following the Civil War 
there was a temporary slowing down of business. Business then was 
intimidated by the conditions necessarily incident to the readjustment 
period that follows any war. But after that, it will be recalled—and 
you should bear in mind this inspiring fact—we entered upon a period 
of industrial prosperity that continued until 1873. And then in a 
moment, almost in the twinkling of an eye, with the failure of Jay 
Cooke & Co., began a period of depression that continued until 1879. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


27 


Judging by that experience and by the experience of the world under 
similar conditions, we are now having just a little business halt, just 
a little hesitation. The merchant with his stock on the shelves at high 
prices hesitates to venture upon any large purchases until he knows 
what the future offers, because it may mean either a gain or a loss. 
However, there will soon be a period of industrial revival in this coun¬ 
try, due to the needs not only of the world outside of the United 
States, but to our domestic needs. 

Nothing has been done along constructive lines since the German 
Army started on its way to France. Steel, of course, then went 
“ sky high ” in price. All building materials were enhanced in value. 
Besides, men who had been engaged in the erection of buildings and 
other construction enterprises to a very great extent—like the rest of 
our population—enlisted in the Army and the Navy, went across the 
seas and into the cantonments, and thus construction work of various 
kinds was materially curtailed during the war period. It became 
unwise and unprofitable to construct buildings, either public or pri¬ 
vate, and no construction was attempted when it could be avoided. 
It is inevitable, therefore, that our home demands will be so great 
that, just as certain as the law of gravity, we will have a period of 
prosperity ahead extending for probably several years’ but just how 
long, of course, no one can say. 

There is just one cloud in the sky, however, that may change my 
business forecast, but I do not think it is even as “ large as a man’s 
hand.” If the peace conference at Paris should adjourn, if the dele¬ 
gates should return to their respective governments without agreeing 
upon some practicable, feasible plan to secure enduring peace for the 
world, then business confidence would vanish, and there would prob¬ 
ably be world-wide industrial depression. But, in my judgment, 
wdien the final word is written in the covenant of peace that looks 
to the prevention of a repetition of the awful horrors of the four 
years of slaughter of life and destruction of property which the 
world has seen, the voice of humanity everywhere will be so over¬ 
whelmingly for peace, blessed peace, that the Senate of the United 
States and all other confirmatory bodies will make haste to approve 
the covenant; and if they do, there will be not only industrial pros¬ 
perity but peace, I hope, at least for the coming century. [Applause.] 

Gentlemen, civilization is at stake in this crisis. The issue is too 
tremendous and too pregnant with possibilities to mention in connec¬ 
tion with it the name of any party. Some of you may know I am a 
partisan upon domestic issues in times of peace, but I have scarcely 
mentioned the name of the great party to which I belong since the 
American people resolved by that solemn declaration of war on the 
6th of April, 1917, that they intended, to quote the language of one 
of the illustrious figures of the ages, “ to make the world safe for 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


democrac} 7 .” [Applause.] God knows I desire to avoid partisanship 
until we approach a condition where it properly applies. I am stand¬ 
ing before you to-day not as a Democratic official but as an American 
to do all I can to promote the interests of my country and the countries 
of the world. [Applause.] 

But I digress. I have not intended to indulge in partisan utterances, 
and I am not going to do so now. 

I have a division that has charge of indemnity claims, and I desire 
to talk to you about that work for just a moment. You are as well 
informed about these claims as I am. They range from very small 
amounts to $100, and come from every community in the United 
States. The First Assistant Postmaster General, the Postmaster 
General, and the parcel-post committee are largely responsible for 
these claims. General Koons has furnished in part the wisdom upon 
which is based the improvements in the Parcel Post System that has 
made it such a signal success during the years it has been in existence. 
[Applause.] When, under regulations largely suggested by him, the 
volume of parcel-post business increased greatly, there naturally 
came at the same time a proportionate increase in the number of 
claims for indemnity. Now, there is just one certain way to reduce the 
number of these claims, and that is to diminish the number and value 
of parcel-post packages that are sent over the country, but, of course, 
no one wants to apply that remedy. 

With improved regulations and a spirit of adventure, I might call 
it, on the part of this administration under the direction of the Post¬ 
master General and Mr. Koons, the Parcel Post System has made 
wonderfully progressive strides. The Postmaster General, of course, 
has not accomplished it all; that goes without saying. But if you 
think he is not “ on the job ” just stay with us awhile. The Parcel 
Post System has, as a matter of fact, attained a measure of success 
that I scarcely anticipated. Having been in the last few years 
under the tutelage of the President, as it were, I am beginning to 
have a good deal of vision myself on many things. But although 
I thought I had an enlarged scope of vision on the Parcel Post Sys¬ 
tem, I never anticipated fully the strides it has taken toward the 
marvelous success attained during the last six years. 

Necessarily, during the war, indemnity claims have increased from 
causes other than those due to increased business. Our boys left 
their homes, and a great many of them went overseas—and, sad to 
relate, some of them did not get back. Others went to the canton¬ 
ments in this country. When those boys left the dearest spot on 
earth—the home where mother is, where father, sister, and brother 
are—or course packages followed the absent boy, the absent father, 
or husband, and there was an enormous increase in the number of 
the packages. With the movements of troops from cantonment to 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


29 


cantonment, from country to country, necessarily there was an in¬ 
crease in the number of indemnity claims because there was an in¬ 
crease in the damages and losses. What was the result? Perhaps 
one-third of all the claims passed on in the last 12 months originated 
in the cantonments because of the rapid movements of the troops. 
Just an instance: A boy reached Camp Funston from my home town 
one day, and a few days thereafter he was on his journey to France 
on a replacement mission. 

A parcels-post package can move quite rapidly, but it could not 
move as rapidly as some of our boys were moving under the direction 
of the War Department. A package addressed to this boy, even on 
the day he left home, would not have reached the cantonment at Camp 
Funston in time for delivery to him before he w T as on his way to 
France, and if perchance this package should have contained some¬ 
thing perishable or fragile, it might have easily resulted in a claim. 
From causes of this kind there has been a large increase in the number 
of packages lost and damages incurred at the various, cantonments 
throughout the United States. 

As to the increased damage claims, not only were they due to that 
fact, but they were due largely to the further fact that the express 
companies, when they were brought under governmental control, 
ceased to handle small packages. Their rates were increased, I be¬ 
lieve, 10 per cent at one time and 25 per cent another time, and the 
result was that the average American, being pretty well advised, 
sought the cheapest method of transportation, and consequently sent 
his packages by parcels post. So the increase in express rates has 
operated to increase vastly the volume of the business of the parcels- 
post system. 

In the Postal Service the boys, God bless them, did not claim ex¬ 
emption from the selective draft. The Postmaster General told you 
yesterday that, with the exception of one class—and I really do not 
know what class that was—he did not file any claim for exemption, 
and the result was that our boys in the Division of Registered or In¬ 
sured Mails went to the front, and what followed then ? With claims 
coming from postmasters by the thousands, we had to depend upon 
untrained and inexperienced clerks, and it was ofttimes difficult to 
secure even these. The result was that the service dropped behind on 
that account as well as because of increased business. But I must tell 
you another fact that you can take home with you and not forget— 
that while the division has been behind, through no fault of the super¬ 
intendent or the clerks, they have been working overtime for weeks 
and weeks, under order of the Postmaster General, and the work in the 
Claims Department is now in such condition that within three weeks 
from this date we expect to be absolutely current with the business of 
paying these indemnity claims. [Applause.] 


30 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


We do not intend to quit the business of paying claims, because—I 
may say to you, in confidence, that last year the profits on the business 
amounted to $2,134,000 in round numbers, and this year, when we 
balance the books, posting all charges against the system and taking 
credit for everything to which we are entitled, v T e expect a net profit, 
as nearly as we can estimate it now, of $2,685,000. Do not say any¬ 
thing about that outside, because somebody might want us to reduce 
the fees. [Laughter.] 

May I digress again for just a moment to refer to the inspiring ad¬ 
dress which the Postmaster General made to us yesterday? I was 
in the office of the Postmaster General the other day when the 15 
division inspectors came in, and he made a beautiful talk to them. I 
thought he had covered practically everything on the face of the 
earth relative to the Postal Service in that speech. I heard that ad¬ 
dress, fortunately, and yesterday I heard here his masterful address 
to this conference, and if the Postmaster General omitted anything 
I do not have any recollection of it. He has so fully covered the field 
that it is hard for me to say anything further. 

Gentlemen, as the Postmaster General suggested, we have had 
difficulties, we have faced criticisms. I have been accustomed to them 
ever since I came into public life a long time ago, and, somewhat like 
the Postmaster General said in respect to himself, I, too, have be¬ 
come a little bit hardened. There are criticisms about the Parcels 
Service, but there was one statement which the Postmaster General 
made yesterday, which I want to reenforce by reiterating it to-day, 
and that is that while the Postal Service has failed partially at times 
necessarily, due to the stress of war—to meet the expectations of 
people, this, the greatest postal establishment in the world, the 
greatest single governmental establishment in times of peace in the 
world, was the only ,one of all the nations at war that did not now and 
then practically break down. [Applause.] So you see it might have 
been worse. 

That is what I say sometimes about the league of nations, which I 
do not now care to discuss, because almost everybody seems to be in 
favor of it. I do not say I am for this or some other particular 
clause or paragraph of suggested treaties, but I do desire enduring 
peace and some covenant to insure it. I would suggest to the op¬ 
ponents of the league—and I think it is a knock-out proposition— 
that we can not make worse conditions than those now existing. It 
matters not what the terms of the treaty may be just so they are a 
step in the right direction, for as a result of existing conditions more 
than 7,000,000 men have died in the slaughterhouse over there. 

I have seen four wars in my own time, and I do not want the world 
made desolate by another war, as it wull be unless we provide for con¬ 
tinuing peace. With the improved enginery of destruction that will 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


31 


be utilized in the next war, there will be but few returning soldiers. 
When I consider the developments following the signing of the armis¬ 
tice, I am almost tempted for a certain reason to regret that it was 
signed. The inventions ready for use at that time have shown that 
we had just completed engines of marvelous destructive power, such, 
for instance, as an aeroplane that is self-propelling and self-guiding, 
so that it would land at a particular point loaded with bombs. I saw 
the time over and over again during the war when I wanted some¬ 
thing of the kind to land right on Potsdam. [Laughter and ap¬ 
plause.] 

But, gentlemen, we are out of the war. God knows we are all re¬ 
joicing. Of course, everyone can not rejoice as most of us do, because 
some of their boys did not get back. Incidentally, I never see one 
of these upstanding boys wearing the uniform of our country, who 
has returned from France or from one of the cantonments in the 
United States, that I do not feel, when I look at his fine physique, 
that maybe he owes the Government something instead of the Gov¬ 
ernment owing all to him, because everyone is in the very best condi¬ 
tion as a result of the perfect physical training in the Army and in the 
Navy. The facts are that the war improved our boys physically, but 
even with that splendid achievement none of us want to try the ex¬ 
perience again. 

Gentlemen, I am glad to see you. I believe these meetings serve 
a useful purpose and I will tell you one of the reasons why. It de¬ 
velops a spirit of friendly emulation and cooperation. I have watched 
the business and public affairs of life for a long time. I hope it has 
not been without advantage to myself. In my judgment the business 
that secures the greatest success is the business in which the spirit of 
cooperation, from the youngest man in it to the highest officials, has 
its exemplification. 

I do not know how I can better express the idea than by repeating 
the observation which Mr. Schwab made when he was appointed to 
take charge of the shipbuilding industry and someone asked him how 
many men he had under him. He said, “ I have no man under me. I 
have several thousand working with me.” That is the ideal policy, 
gentlemen. I do not care whether you are conducting a post office at 
Podunk, Mo., or whether you are occupying the position of Post¬ 
master General; the rule of action to pursue with your associates is 
to have them understand that they are part of the machinery and that 
their suggesti&ns will be heard and appreciated. In the Bureau of the 
Third Assistant it is understood, as it is in other bureaus, that anyone 
from the humblest in official station up to the most important is wel¬ 
come to offer any suggestion that he thinks will be helpful. 

I am getting along in years and in service, but never expect to see 
the time I shall not appreciate a kindly word and I endeavor to 


32 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


show that I appreciate it. As I near the end of the journey, more 
and more I desire somebody now and then to drop a flower of appre¬ 
ciation in my pathway, because I appreciate them now. If piled 
up on my coffin, though they be in a regal profusion, they will give me 
no pleasure then. [Applause.] 

Gentlemen, get in close touch with your clerical force and have 
them understand that they are an integral, active, important part of 
this great Postal Establishment and that you rely upon them to the 
fullest measure for the performance of duty, even as you expect to 
perform your duty; and if you do this you will secure still more 
satisfactory results than you have ever had before. 

1 am glad of this meeting because I believe it will develop a spirit 
of cooperation. I am pleased that Mr. Koons and the Postmaster 
General called you together, because they want you to know, as I 
want you to know, that we are relying on the postmasters and must 
rely upon them and other postal officials for the high efficiency to 
which we expect the Postal Service to attain in due time. It is I 
trust improving daily. We had the advantage, when we began, of 
the experience of more than a century of the men who preceded us. 
Gentlemen, do not make the mistake of excessive vanity. All the 
wisdom in the world did not come into the Postal Service when Mr. 
Koons and myself came into it or when any of you took charge of 
your particular office. Our predecessors had wisdom; the men who 
have gone before us had hard experience. In the main, although 
there were exceptions as there are now, they were faithful to the 
Postal Service, loyal to the Government, and did all they could to 
advance its interests, just as you are doing now. So', gentlemen, you 
are able to build on the foundations which w 7 ere laid deep and strong. 
We are still building, and the structure is not nearly completed. 

The Postal Establishment has progressed under the administra¬ 
tions of our predecessors and ourselves, but yet greater triumphs are 
to come if the spirit of cooperation so actuates all the employees, post¬ 
masters, supervisors, and other officials so that it be understood 
that their suggestions are welcome and, if wise and helpful, will 
be adopted and that upon their records will be placed the stamp of 
cordial approval. 

Gentlemen, I thank you. 

(The members of the conference rose and applauded vigorously.) 

ADDRESS BY CLAUDE WEAVER, ESQ., POSTMASTER AT OKLAHOMA 

CITY, OKLA. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, we have one postmaster known from one 
end of this country to the other as a great speaker; in fact, he admits 
it himself. [Laughter.] Yesterday when he spoke to the Postmaster 
General after his address, he said, “ General, if I just had you under 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


33 


me and under my care for a while, I might be able to make a speaker 
out of you.” [Laughter.] He was in great demand during the liberty 
loan campaigns. In fact, he telegraphed for leave of absence so often 
that I finally wired him not to ask for leave of absence, but just to 
wire me whenever he was at his office again. I thought it would save 
the Government expense. Not to take up any further time introduc¬ 
ing him, because you all know him, I am going to ask Hon. Claude 
Weaver, postmaster of Oklahoma City, to speak to us for a few 
moments. [Applause.] 

Mr. Weaver. I feel absolutely ravished by a demonstration of this 
sort. It is an honor that I dreamed not of. 

I want to give you the actual text of the telegram which General 
Ivoons sent to me down at Louisville. I thought I was doing a 
tremendous lot of good in the war work down there, and I had been 
there long enough to exhaust my leave of absence, and I wired for 
an extension of time at the urgent and unanimous solicitation of 
many thousands of my admirers in the State of Kentucky, and I got 

the following telegram from John Koons: “ Why in the-don’t 

you go home and tend to business ? ” [Laughter.] 

After all, laying all joking aside, we did not come here to hear or 
make speeches. We came here to work. In my boyhood days I had 
quite an ambition to ultimately blossom out as a lawyer, so I just 
haunted the corridors and the atmosphere of the courthouse until 
finally I absorbed enough law to get a license. My term of office ex¬ 
pired yesterday, I believe, and I have not heard even a suggestion, so 
I am just hanging over; but I think I may say that to come up here, 
admitting a blissful state of ignorance, just to meet men like these, 
is a very liberal education, and in this atmosphere I thought I might 
absorb enough to make of myself a high-class postmaster. My old 
friend, Gov. Dockery, whom we all love and honor and revere, a man 
who in the evil days stood erect amid the grovelling, pure amid the 
tainted, gave expression to one idea that impressed me and impressed 
you all very much, and that is that every contribution we-may make, 
whatever contribution this conference may make to the public service 
and to the Postal Service—and that is the purpose and function 
of the conference—after all it would be just a little added to a great 
magnificent Postal System, the greatest business organization in the 
world that has come down to us from that great man, its founder, 
who ranks with Alexander Hamilton—Benjamin Franklin and Alex¬ 
ander Hamilton, the two great constructive intellects in the great 
heroic age, the Revolutionary age. 

I have no particular message to bring to you, so I am going to tell 
a story to conclude with regard to this present age that we think is 
so great. We are apt to think that because we live in a progressive 
113522 °—19-3 



34 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


age and a great age we owe no gratitude to tlie ancients. This story 
may be illustrative of the danger of such an attitude. I steal this 
from one of the most highly regarded story tellers of the whole 
world, Chauncey M. Depew. He said that a number of years ago 
back in a little town where his father lived the} r had a big football 
game, and one of those fine young college fellows with long hair, who 
was a great intellectual and physical athlete, was introduced to Mr. 
Depew’s father. They were talking of the great age in which they 
li red and the marvelous development of the intellect of man. He said 
to Mr. Depew’s father, “The ancients'have nothing on us. The 
world was slow and commonplace in the old days compared to what 
it is now. Right now,” he said, “ I know more than my own father 
ever did.” The old gentleman began to chuckle, and the boy said 
to him, “What are you laughing about?” He said, “I was just 
thinking what a damned fool your daddy must be.” [Laughter and 
applause.] 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, I do not know whether time is as long 
everywhere as it is in St. Louis,.but if a letter is delayed an hour in 
St. Louis and that hour were as long as Mr. Selph’s hour in getting 
here with the report of his committee it would be a very considerable 
delay. [Laughter.} 

There is one matter in these letters which came from business people 
that was spoken of as much or more than anything else, and that was 
the length of time required for mail to travel from one city to another 
as compared with the length of time a year or two previously. We 
have with us the General Superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, 
Mr. Denning, and I have asked him to discuss this feature with you 
for a few moments while we are waiting for this committee. 

ADDRESS OF WILLIAM I, DENNING, GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT, 
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. 

Mr. Denning. Mr. First Assistant Postmaster General Koons and 
gentlemen, it had been our thought and hope that'the Second Assist¬ 
ant would be down here with us to tell about conditions we have been 
up against for the last two years in the matter of train schedules 
throughout the country, but I think he is “ somewhat up in the air ” 
to-day, figuratively speaking. He is so interested in the aerial mail 
service that he said he regretted he did not have the time to come 
down here this morning. He asked me, if the conference wished to 
have any information on the subject of train schedules, to tell you a 
few things about the effect of train schedules on the mails. 

The Postmaster General yesterday referred to the number of missed 
connections for the month of November, 1917. The actual number 
of those misconnections was 87,000. The Merchants’ Association of 
New York took advantage of this statement at the time it was made 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


35 


to attempt to show that this number of misconnections was very small 
in comparison with the total number of connections supposed to be 
made; in other words, they took our Railway Mail Service schedules 
and assumed that every train listed therein was due to make a con¬ 
nection, whereas the information we had compiled contemplated and 
called for information only affecting those trains that were actually 
scheduled to make connections. Eighty-seven thousand misconnec¬ 
tions, as you gentlemen must realize, means serious delays to a large 
amount of mail. 

The statement was also made that one misconnection ought not 
to account for delays such as we have been experiencing. Those 
who make such a statement overlook entirely the fact that en route 
from Boston to San Francisco there may be six or seven of those 
misconnections affecting the transmission of one letter, which would 
possibly mean three days’ delay in actual transportation time, to 
say nothing of the time it might be delayed in delivery as a result of 
missing carriers’ deliveries. 

You will, of course, recall that in January of last year the Gov¬ 
ernment took over the operation of the railroads. After a time 
there was some considerable improvement, but the arbitrary action 
of certain railroad officials, I am sorry to say, which was noticeable 
to some extent before the Government assumed control, became more 
pronounced. For instance, they would start their trains before all 
the mail could be loaded or unloaded. They would refuse to handle 
the mail on certain trains in accordance w T ith instructions from the 
Railway Mail Service. Finally it became so serious that we prepared 
letters, which the Postmaster General signed, addressed to the Di¬ 
rector General of Railroads, calling his attention to the enormous 
amount of mail that was being delayed every day as the result of this 
action. I think the figures for one week in May of last year indi¬ 
cated that 12,000,000 letters were delayed solely because the rail¬ 
road companies directed the departure of their trains before the 
mails could be loaded or unloaded. We called the attention of the 
Director General of Railroads to these conditions and pointed out 
to him that the law provides that the Postmaster General shall 
designate the trains upon which mail shall be carried—and concluded 
by asking that he issue an order to the railroad companies direct¬ 
ing them to comply with the postal laws and regulations unless they 
were specifically excepted from compliance therewith. 

Of course, you might say that I should not be standing here criti¬ 
cizing the Government operation of the railroads. I do not think 1 
am. You know who operated the railroads. It was the railroad offi¬ 
cials up there, under the direction of the director general. 

I personally know this letter was referred to these gentlemen and 
nothing ever came of it, and that the railroad companies continued 


36 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


to start their trains before the mails were loaded or unloaded. I am 
sorry to say that the practice continues to this day, but not to the 
same extent that it did before the signing of the armistice. 

For four weeks, beginning with February 16 and ending with 
March 15, we asked our division superintendents to submit to us a 
record of the number of misconnections of trains and the number of 
pouches of letter mail involved and the number of sacks of paper 
mail. I was astonished to learn that for those four weeks there were 
40,000 misconnections, involving 85,000,000 letters, based upon the 
best estimate we can make. 

On the chart which I have here on the wall, the larger square, 
which I have drawn in the proper proportion to the smaller square, 
represents the 85,000,000 letters that were delayed as a result of these 
misconnections. Quite a bit has been said by the different organi¬ 
zations criticizing the Railway Mail Service regarding unworked 
mails causing delay; in other words, the Railway Mail Service seems 
to get the blame for the delay in the transmission of the mails, and 
the statement is generally made that as a result of the system of 
taking clerks off the lines thousands and thousands of letters are 
delivered at terminals unworked. The smaller square on the chart 
represents the proportion of letters delayed as a result of being 
unworked in comparison with the number delayed as a result of the 
trains missing their scheduled connections. There were 2,810,000 
letters of the former class, as compared with over 85,000,000 letters 
which the railroad companies delayed by poor train service, and I 
wish to say further that had there been no missed connections the 
smaller square would not have been visible. It is impossible to dis¬ 
tribute all the mails when delayed mails are received. 

You all know that prior to the taking over of the railroads by the 
Government the maintenance of schedules was an exception rather 
than the rule. Practically no schedule was maintained. In Sep¬ 
tember of 1917 we addressed letters to several of the railroad com¬ 
panies asking them to lengthen their schedules or rearrange them in 
some way that would give us a dependable schedule. In that re¬ 
spect we anticipated the action of the director general later when 
the railroads were taken over. Shortly after the inauguration of 
Government control of railroads a comprehensive investigation was 
made by a committee of railway officials, which resulted in a Nation¬ 
wide revision of train schedules. Schedules were lengthened from 
Boston to San Francisco, from New York to Seattle, from Boston 
to New Orleans, and everywhere. Connections that were formerly 
made were deliberately broken. Those that were maintained were 
so lengthened that the practical effect is a three days’ later delivery 
of mail matter addressed from Boston to San Francisco; I mean 
from the standpoint of the business man. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONEEKENCE. 


37 


There is no question but what there should be a revision of the 
railroad schedules, not only from the standpoint of the passengers 
but from the standpoint of those interested in the mail service. It 
occurred to me that in this most important matter you gentlemen can 
help us bring pressure at the proper time upon the railroad com¬ 
panies and the Railroad Administration to secure a shortening of 
schedules where operating conditions will permit. We have under 
consideration a tentative program for submission later to the Rail¬ 
road Administration of certain through schedules that will mean 
a decided improvement in the transmission of mail over the longer 
distances. 

A few moments ago, while talking with the First Assistant 
Postmaster General, I indicated to him what the Second Assistant 
had said to me this morning, and that was to suggest for the con¬ 
sideration of your general committee the creation of a special com¬ 
mittee to give attention for the next several months to the question 
of securing better train service. I make this merely as a tentative 
suggestion for your consideration. 

I think I have covered in a general way the matters I had in mind 
which most seriously affect the transmission of the mails. I thank 
you very much, gentlemen. [Applause.] 

REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the chairman of the special committee in¬ 
forms me that he is now ready to submit the report of the committee 
and we will listen to that report at this time. 

Mr. Selph. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the conference, we 
want to thank you in appreciation of your patience and for your in¬ 
dulgence owing to the delay. Your committee met yesterday after¬ 
noon immediately after recess and organized. In the evening we 
went into session and have been working almost until after mid¬ 
night and convened again this morning and have just concluded our 
labors. On behalf of the committee, I desire to express our thanks 
to you for your patience in waiting on us. 

Our report, Mr. Chairman, is as follows: 

Washington,, D. C., April 2, 1919. 

Hon. John C. Koons, chairman, and members of the conference between postal 

officials and business interests assembled at Washington, D. C. 

Gentlemen : Your committee to whom was submitted suggestions, criticisms, 
and complaints in relation to the Postal Service in the United States duly met 
in accordance with your instructions, and after organizing we received in 
room 523 postmasters and other interested persons who were present, repre¬ 
senting the business interests of the United States, and heard suggestions, com¬ 
plaints, and criticisms as submitted by them. 

From a large mass of oral and written matter submitted to us, your committee 
has deemed it best to separate the subjects into three classes, to wit: (1) Legis¬ 

lative, (2) local, (3) administrative. 


38 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


As your committee does not consider itself as being empowered to pass on sug¬ 
gestions made for remedial legislation, we have segregated all such suggestions 
and submit them to you for merited consideration without recommendation. 

We have also segregated the suggestions for local remedies applied for by 
postmasters in relation to train service, carrier service, and local conditions, 
and recommend that these suggestions be referred to the Bureaus of the First 
Assistant, Third Assistant, and Fourth Assistant, and all matters in relation to 
train service to be sent to the Second Assistant, without recommendation for 
merited consideration, except as herein contained. 

The administrative matters which we feel can be taken up by the members of 
the conference and discussed here in this meeting have also been segregated by 
us under the different headings as follows: 

1. Return receipts for registered mail. 

2. Improved directory service by the use of the visible index. 

3. Special Delivery Service. 

4. Expediting the payment of indemnities on insured parcel-post claims. 

5. Suggestions that in order to safeguard and protect the ownership of parcel- 
post packages, the postmaster be instructed to urge the shipper to inclose in the 
package a label or card bearing the names of the sender and the addressee, so 
as to obviate loss when the label or tag on the outside is destroyed or lost. 

6. Receipts to be taken for insured parcels when delivery is made. 

7. Packages for delivery at hotels or boarding houses to be delivered, whether 
addressed in care of said places or not. 

8. Additional payment to contract stations. 

9. Special-delivery packages to be marked by tag or large stamp, so as to 
identify without close observation. 

10. Establishment of distinct parcel-post stations. 

11. Return of Nixie mail matter without first sending notice on Form 3540; 
also that the use of Form 3578 be discontinued. 

12. Uniform method of precanceling stamps, standardizing the style. It is 
suggested that stamps be precanceled at printing offices owned by the Post Office 
Department. 

13. Improved method of handling fragile, perishable, and special-delivery 
parcels. 

14. First-class matter to be sent to addressee instead of notifying addressee 
to send postage. Postage to be collected on delivery. 

15. Improved service in third and fourth class offices. (Numerous sugges¬ 
tions made in this respect by Mr. 0. M. Wynne, representing Montgomery 
Ward & Co.) 

16. Improved C. O. D. service. (Suggestions by Mr. C. M. Wynne, of Mont¬ 
gomery Ward & Co.) 

17. Improved delivery and collection service in the large cities. 

18. Expedite delivery of third-class matter. 

19. Closer cooperation between post offices and the publishers. 

20. Government-owned motor vehicle service, its advancement and increase. 

21. Early deposits of mail by business interests in order to give the post 
office time to work the mail for early dispatch. 

The superintendents of the 15 divisions of the Railway Mail Service submit 
and suggest the desirability of postmasters providing modified or more simple 
city schemes for use of postal clerks in R. P. O. trains than those it is neces¬ 
sary for clerks in the post office to use, this for the reasons: 

1. That there is not always available in postal cars a sufficient amount of 
letter-case room to accommodate the number of separate or duplicate cases 
needed for distribution of a large city. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


39 


2. That schemes of some cities are so complicated it is difficult for clerks 
in the Railway Mail Service to acquire a complete knowledge of them in con¬ 
nection with the several other schemes they are required to learn. 

Some of the largest cities furnish schemes for the Railway Mail Service 
that require mails to he made up for the principal firms and the stations; 
others, in addition, require a carrier distribution to be made of the mails for 
the principal business district; while still others require a large portion of the 
city to be made up to carriers. 

It is our opinion that the Railway Mail Service should be furnished with 
city schemes that provide for the distribution of mails only to the principal 
business firms, stations, or sections and the principal business district. 

In connection with this, it is contemplated that the primary purpose of city 
distribution in the Railway Mail Service is to advance the delivery of first- 
class mail for business districts rather than for residence sections. The Rail¬ 
way Mail Service should not be expected to perform city distribution on trains 
reaching cities after the last carrier delivery, nor upon any train if the mail 
can be otherwise distributed and delivered with reasonable expedition. 

All of which meets with the approval of your committee. 

Suggestions have been made by many postmasters especially those from the 
larger cities, that some action be taken by this body in relation to a proper 
provision being made by Congress, through recommendations from the Post 
Office Department, for the future of superannuated and aged employees. While 
your committee does not find any authority by which it can offer any par¬ 
ticular method or plan, yet, after a discussion of this subject by its members, 
your committee finds that the service will be bettered by the adoption of a 
system by which superannuated and aged employees may be provided for in 
some way to be authorized by Congress and that the Postal Service thereby 
would become more efficient in the relegation of these superannuated and 
aged employees and the appointment in their places of younger men of vigor 
and energy. 

Your committee recommends that for the purpose of a closer cooperation of 
the business interests in communities, especially in the larger cities, and the 
post office, that the postmaster invite the cooperation of the chambers of com¬ 
merce or some such other business body of like character that may be organ¬ 
ized in their community, and all such chambers of commerce and business 
bodies appoint a committee to aid the postmaster in meeting complaints, criti¬ 
cisms of the service, and other matters for the purpose of correcting the same. 
That the chambers of commerce should urge the business interests and postal 
patrons to cooperate with the post office in the early mailing campaign and 
other matters pertaining to the prompt forwarding and collecting of mails, for 
the purpose of meeting the schedules of trains more closely, and the more 
efficient dispatch of mails so as to cure the complaints which have been made 
of late service and of congestion in the post office by reason of the deposit of 
the mail by the business interests at a late hour; also, that these matters be 
called to the attention of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States 
located at Washington so that they may secure the cooperation of their con¬ 
stituent bodies. 

It is especially recommended that in large cities where there is organized 
a publishers’ association that postmasters invite the cooperation of the said 
association for the purpose of more efficiently handling the publishers’ mail and 
for its proper and systematic expedition and dispatch. 


40 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


INADEQUATE AND SLOW TRAIN SERVICE-BROKEN CONNECTIONS. 

Many complaints have been made because of inadequate and slow train 
service between important business centers. Also, the fact has been brought 
to our attention that in many cases connection between important mail connec¬ 
tions are broken or insufficient time allowed for the transfer of mails. 

With reference to this important matter, it is suggested that this conference 
receive suggestions from the members of this conference as to such betterment 
along these lines as may be needful for closer connections, efficiency of dis¬ 
patch and delivery, and that a committee of five be selected by the chairman 
from those interested, consisting of a postmaster, a member of the business 
interests represented here, a post-office inspector in charge, a superintendent 
of Railway Mail Service, and a representative of the Post Office Department#- 
to act as a permanent committee during the period of reconstruction, to take 
these matters up and adjust them with the Railroad Administration. 

Your committee believes it has given full time to all who requested a hearing. 
We take great pleasure in submitting that this report is made in full unanimity 
and harmonious accord, and with the sole purpose of an earnest desire to inspire 
a spirit of cooperation and harmony for the betterment of the service and its 
higher efficiency. 

We also desire to express an appreciation of the patience of all those whom we 
came in contact, and of the many courtesies extended to us by the Postmaster 
General, his Assistant Postmasters General, bureau heads, and the representa¬ 
tives of the Postal Service and the business interests. 

Very respectfully submitted. 

Colin M. Selph, chairman, postmaster, St. Louis, Mo.; Charles J. Bell, 
representing American Bankers’ Association; T. G. Patten, post¬ 
master, New York, N. Y.; F. B. DeBerard, representing Mer¬ 
chants’ Association, New York, N. Y.; Charles Janvier, post¬ 
master, New Orleans, La.; A. B. Schmidt, representing Sears, 
Roebuck & Co., Chicago, Ill.; R. S. Brauer, superintendent Rail¬ 
way Mail Service, Omaha, Nebr.; G. A. Leonard, post-office 
inspector in charge, Philadelphia, Pa.; D. A. Skinner, represent¬ 
ing Chamber of Commerce of United States, Washington, D. C.; 
George Rosenberg, representing Publishers’ Postal Service, New 
York, N. Y.; H. L. Fairfield, secretary, representing Association 
of Commerce, Chicago, Ill. 

Mr. Chairman, in connection with this report we also desire to sub¬ 
mit a communication covering a number of delinquencies, real, imag¬ 
inary, or absolute, which have been developed by our committee on 
behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and we sub¬ 
mit these in connection with our report for your consideration and 
the consideration of such bureau heads as they may be assigned to. 

Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of the report of the committee. 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma City). I second the motion. 

Mr. F. B. DeBerard. Mr. Chairman, I wish to say, on behalf of the 
Merchants’ Association of New York City, that I heartily concur in 
all the suggestions which have been advanced in the report of the 
committee. I consider it especially useful that provision be made for 
greater cooperation between the department officials and the business 
interests, in order that complaints of whatever nature may be fully 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


41 


and carefully considered, and considered in a friendly spirit, with a 
view to bringing about harmony and thereby securing, through ad¬ 
ministrative channels, remedies for such evils as may exist and for the 
improvement of the service. 

I desire, however, further to say that it has not been deemed prac¬ 
ticable for this committee to consider certain other projects of the 
department which, in the opinion of the merchants’ association, ma¬ 
terially affect the efficiency of the Postal Service, and therefore I wish 
to reserve the right on behalf of the Merchants’ Association of New 
York City to further consider later, and possibly to present to Con¬ 
gress, the question of those policies, particularly those alluded to by 
the Postmaster General in his address on yesterday. In every other 
respect I can very fully concur with the proposition embodied in the 
report of the committee. 

Mr. Kooxs. I want to express my appreciation, Mr. DeBerard, for 
your statement, and you may rest assured that the policy of the 
department is, and always will be so long as I have anything to do 
with it, to try to work harmoniously with the business organizations 
and the business men of the country. We want your advice, and we 
are always willing and glad to open to you anything that we have 
and to explain our side of the case and our views on it. I assure you it 
will be always a friendly discussion and with only one single purpose 
in view, and that is the improvement of the Postal Service for the 
public, in which I know you are interested, and in which we are 
vitally interested. 

Our only motive—although we may differ on means sometimes to 
accomplish it—is to give the very best postal service we can. So far 
as the business organizations are concerned, we intend to send a cir¬ 
cular once each month to every business organization in the country— 
that is, to the list which has been furnished me—and I expect to 
add to it from time to time if there are any organizations not now on 
that! list, in an effort to keep them in touch with exactly what we are 
doing. I want their suggestions, and I want them to feel free to send 
them to us at any time. 

Gentlemen, in sending these suggestions to us—and we ask them 
from all of you, of course—I beg of the business organizations to 
give us the benefit of the same careful judgment that they would use 
in a business of their own. Do not submit something to us just to 
boost or get you more than some other city, and keep on pyramiding 
on us until we can not reach the top, but give us the benefit of your 
good, sound business judgment as to what you would do for the 
Postal Service if it were your own business and you were at the head 
of a corporation conducting it. That is the kind of information and 
suggestions we want for our guidance. When we have that sort of 


42 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE,. 


help it will be of the greatest kind of assistance to us. The mer¬ 
chants and the business men of this country can be of more assistance 
to the Post Office Department than any class of people in the country 
if they will just give us their good, sound business judgment. 

Let me illustrate by just reciting one case: Occasionally, as you 
know, Congress passes a public-buildings bill. In some cases the 
amount authorized is more than is really needed. A few years ago 
in one town an authorization of $300,000 was made for a building. 
The town was very small. The Supervising Architect’s office planned 
a building that was as near perfect, from the standpoint of utility 
arid use for the Postal Service, as the architects could produce. 

It was to be a fireproof building, one which we thought an ideal 
building in every respect, but it cost less than $150,000. It was a 
building in keeping with the other buildings in the community. A 
delegation from that town called at the Treasury Department and 
argued that that building was unfit and that it should be increased to 
consume the entire appropriation. The Assistant Secretary of the 
Treasury asked me if I would see the delegation, so they came down 
to see me. It was a delegation of responsible business men from the 
town. They did not represent any organization. They had plans 
for the building drawn that would consume the entire appropriation. 
It was a magnificent building from an architectural standpoint, but 
as far as using it for a post office, it would have been like some w r e 
have in use to-day—absolutely useless. I explained in full the ad¬ 
vantages of the building planned by the Treasury Department, but 
they insisted that the entire sum of money should be spent. I asked 
what classes of business they represented. One man said he owned 
a department store. I then said to him, “ Suppose you started to 
build a building for your store, and you had designed a building that 
could be used from the standpoint of service for your store to your 
customers and from an economical standpoint, providing ideal con¬ 
ditions for your employees, that would cost $150,000, and the same 
committee that is with you would wait on you and say to you that 
this building must not be constructed, because it does not suit us, and 
you must build a building like we have that will cost you $300,000 
and absolutely unfit for your purposes, just as the building i^ that 
you suggest for a post office. What would you tell them? ” To use 
his own words, which were very expressive, he said, “ I would tell 

them to go to-. [Laughter.] You need say no more to me; I 

am satisfied you are right.” 

Gentlemen, we want your best advice, your best judgment. You 
are men of sound judgment, and you are men of long experience. 
We want the kind of judgment you use in conducting your own busi¬ 
ness. You will never find any trouble with the Post Office Depart- 



POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


43 


ment in cooperating with you. On the other hand, we are glad to do 
it. vYe ask your cooperation, and we will at all times explain our 
reasons for anything we do. 

The question is on the adoption of the report of the committee, 
which you have just heard read. 

(The report of the committee was unanimously adopted.) 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, we will take up these topics as they relate, 
to the various bureaus, and I shall ask the bureau officers and other 
chiefs to be here, so we can take up those which affect the office of 
the First Assistant at one time, and so on through the various other 
bureaus. It will take some little time to arrange that scheme, so I 
suggest that we recess at this time until half past 2 this afternoon. If 
here is no objection, that will be done. 

(Thereupon, at 12.30 o’clock p. m., a recess was taken until 2.30 
o’clock p. m.) 

AFTER RECESS. 

The conference was called to order by Mr. Koons. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, before we start in with the business of the 
afternoon I want to make this announcement: Several postmasters 
have asked me about their leave of absence. You are all granted leave 
of absence from the time you left home until you get back there,, no 
matter when that is. [Applause.] The same privilege is extended 
to the representatives of the business organizations. [Laughter). 

RETURN RECEIPTS FOR REGISTERED MAIL. 

The first subject on the committee report is a subject which comes 
under the jurisdiction of the Third Assistant Postmaster General, 
Mr. Dockery, “ Return receipts for registered mail.” That being a 
matter within the jurisdiction of the Third Assistant Postmaster 
General, I shall ask him to preside while we are discussing that 
subject. 

Mr. Dockery. Gentlemen, I know you are all anxious to get directly 
to the consideration of the question, so we will proceed. Topic No. 

1 technically comes under the jurisdiction of the Third Assistant 
Postmaster General, but the practical question, as I see it, refers in 
large part to the office of the First Assistant Postmaster General, and 
I will therefore ask Mr. Koons to open the discussion on that question 
by telling us why he does not think that suggestion should be 
agreed to. 

Mr. Koons. An order for the abolishment of the return receipts for 
registered mail, I think, was issued 10 years ago, applicable except 
when return receipt is demanded. It was found on investigation that 
a great many return receipts were not desired; that the public simply 


44 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


took the receipt as a matter of fact; that it did not safeguard the 
mail in any way, and many times it was not filed when returned to 
the addressee and served no practical use. For that reason its use 
was abandoned except when requested. I do not know what infor¬ 
mation was before the committee that handled these topics, but I 
would greatly appreciate it if whoever submitted that topic would 
.state briefly the reasons why they think return receipts should be 
given for all registered mail. 

Mr. Chance (Washington). I suggested that, Mr. Chairman, but 
I did not have any argument to offer. All I desire to state is that 
we furnish return receipts only where requested, and there is such a 
small percentage *of requests for return receipts that I recommended 
that it be done aw T ay with entirely, or, if they insist upon it, whether it 
might not be advisable to charge extra for the return receipts. That 
is about all there is to the question, it seems to me. 

Mr. Davis (Roanoke). I have this written out on that subject, Mr. 
Chairman: 

The first thing to be done to improve insured-mail service- 

Mr. Koons (interposing). We are on the question of registered 
mail, Mr. Davis. We have not yet reached the question of insured 
mail. 

Mr. Davis. I beg your pardon. 

Mr. Goodwin (Butte). Mr. Chairman, 95 per cent of the customers 
of our office, even though they do not ask for return receipts, expect • 
them, and there is more trouble occasioned by not receiving return 
receipts for registered mail than there is in any other department in 
our office. They do not ask for them, but 95 per cent of the cus- , 
tomers expect them. 

Mr. Thornton (Philadelphia). Mr. Chairman, we find that the 
present system of not giving a receipt unless specially requested saves 
us much time—not that it takes much more time to deliver a regis¬ 
tered letter and take a receipt than it would otherwise, however. I 
can not see that there is anything to be accomplished except to in¬ 
crease the cost of service and delay the time of the carriers. I think 
it is a great detriment to the service' to insist upon giving return 
receipts. 

Mr. Dockery. I will ask Mr. Koons to give us an opinion as to the 
increased cost. 

Mr. Koons. It was estimated at the time, as I recall it, that it cost 
about 5 cents for each return receipt that was obtained. You will 
remember that at the time the use of return receipts was abolished 
the registry fee was increased from 8 to 10 cents, and it was thought 
that had it not been for the abolishment of the return receipt except 
where absolutely necessary, it would have been necessary to raise the 
registry fee even higher. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


45 


There is only one class of patrons, so far as I know, who are par¬ 
ticularly interested in the return receipts, and that is those who send 
a bill or statement of account and who want to be sure the customer 
receives it. I think the largest number of requests come from that 
class of people. It serves no safeguard for the mail and does not 
protect the register in any way. 

Is there any other postmaster who would like to be heard on this 
subject? 

Mr. Fanning (Omaha). Mr. Chairman, in Omaha the clerk of the 
district court uses registered mail for all matter which he sends out. 
The jury commissioner sends out notices or summons for jurors in 
the form of registered letters, and the return receipt for that letter 
is taken as prima facie evidence of service. If the return receipt is 
received and the man fails to show up, that is prima facie evidence 
of service and he is punished accordingly. 

Mr. Huffman (Des Moines). I move that this section 1 be not 
approved. 

Mr. Koons. This is just a statement of what is brought up for dis¬ 
cussion. If you will permit me to make the suggestion, I think the 
motion ought to be whether we are to abandon the use of return 
receipts entirely or whether we ought to continue the present prac¬ 
tice or whether we are to give a receipt in each instance. I think 
whoever makes the motion should state exactly his motion, and then 
we can get action on it. 

Mr. Kinnear (Columbus, Ohio.) I move. Mr. Chairman, that we 
continue the present practice. 

(The motion was seconded.) 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). Mr. Chairman, the foreman of our 
registry section estimates that about 50 per cent of all registered 
articles require a return receipt—that is, a return receipt is either 
demanded or subsequently a tracer is put in, through which they 
request a return receipt. Of course, these tracers are a good deal 
more bother and expense to the department than getting a receipt 
if the application were originally made for one. I understand, 
though I do not know how true it is, having been told this by a postal 
official, that in Canada they charge a little extra—I think it is 1 
cent—if the return receipt is requested and given. It would seem 
to me that would solve the problem. If a person wants a return 
receipt, let him pay 1 or 2 cents more and get one. 

Mr. Fahlmer (Merchants’ Association, New York). Mr. Chair¬ 
man, I should like to inquire just what the motion is? 

Mr. Dockery. The motion is that the present practice be con¬ 
tinued. 

I desire to say in this connection that the effect of the motions 
which prevail will be considered as expressive of the sense of the 


46 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


postmasters and other postal officials. Mr. Koons tells me that the 
action of the conference will then be certified to the proper bureau 
for consideration and for draft of whatever regulations, if any, may 
be necessary to put into effect the desired change, and then sent to the 
Postmaster General for approval. That will be the effect of every 
motion adopted here. We will proceed with that understanding 
with respect to all these propositions, that they are to be certified to 
the particular bureau for consideration, and must finally have the 
approval of the Postmaster General. I repeat that the effect of any 
action will be merely an expression of the sense of the postmasters 
and other postal officials in attendance upon this conference. 

Mr. Fahlmer. Mr. Chairman, if I may be permitted to state, I 
represent a banking institution, although I am here with the Mer¬ 
chants’ Association of New York. I strongly favor the retention of 
the present system of furnishing a return receipt. We send prac¬ 
tically all the currencjr that goes out from our institution by mail, 
and securities are likewise sent by registered mail. We ship from 
300 to 500 pieces every day. We desire a return receipt on each of 
those pieces as evidence that it has been received by the addressee. 
We always furnish a card with the letter and a return receipt prop¬ 
erly filled out with the letter, and frequently the return receipt fails 
to come back to us, and it then becomes necessary for us to send out 
a tracer. I am sure that the work in connection with tracing those 
letters and having the post office give us a reply is a great deal more 
than the work involved in having this card signed by the addressee 
and returned to us. I therefore think, from the standpoint of the 
banks at least, that the return receipt should be retained. 

(The motion to “ Continue the present practice ” was carried unani¬ 
mously.) 


IMPROVED DIRECTORY SERVICE-VISIBLE INDEX. 

Mr. Koons. The next subject presented by the committee for our 
consideration is “Improved directory service by the use of the visible 
index.” This is a matter which comes under Mr. Blakslee, the Fourth 
Assistant Postmaster General. I will greatly appreciate it if the 
postmaster who suggested that will state briefly what he had in mind 
and what his reasons were. 

Mr. Chance (Washington). In our office for the past two or three 
months we have been investigating in an effort to find some improved 
method to take care of the inquiry system, and we recommended to 
the department the purchase of a visible index card system to be used 
instead of the old-fashioned directory that is divided up info several 
sections. We found that there are four concerns in the United States 
who furnish these cards, any one of which systems, I think, would be 
a great improvement over the present system. The cost of it runs in 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


47 


our office from $6,000 to $1*2,000—that is, the different companies make 
those different charges, including cabinets and the cards. 

We have 450,000 names in our directory, and we have on an average 
of a thousand changes a day. That is a little unusual for Washington 
and will not keep up at that rate after things have settled down, but 
we average now a thousand changes a day. We ha\^e 30 clerks en¬ 
gaged on this work alone. A very conserAath^e estimate would be that, 
by the installation of this index-card system suggested, Ave would 
make a saving of 10 clerks, which would amount to about $12,000 a 
year. I do not think there is any reason in the world why that can 
not be done by the adoption of any these A T isible card index systems. 
They are all visible and are a great deal easier on the eyesight. The 
cards are, of course, made out on the typewriter. 

Mr. Koons. Have you made any estimate of Iioav much it would'cost 
to install a directory system of that kind? 

Mr. Chance. We have estimated it would cost, for our system, the 
salaries of the three typewriters for two months to get it started. 

Mr. Blakslee. What would that amount to in money? 

Mr. Chance. For the typewriters, it would be their salaries for the 
two months at $1,000 or $1,200 a year, whatever it might be. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). Mr. Chairman, I belieA T e I am the origi¬ 
nator of this idea of the visible card index for a post-office directory— 
that is, so far as its recent consideration is concerned. 

In Brooklyn Ave have a population of 2,200,000, and we have no 
directory whatever, except the telephone book. I have been trying 
for the past three years to get some sort of improvement in that 
service. I had the publishers of the New York City Directory make 
a survey in Brooklyn some time ago, and they said they could not 
undertake to make a city directory for Brooklyn without a guaranty 
of $30,000 on the original cost. They figured that after the first book 
was made they could probably finance it themselves, \>ut they wanted 
an initial guaranty for the first book of $30,000. When I found it 
was impossible to get consideration for such a proposition by the 
business interests of Brooklyn, I took up this question of a visible 
card index. 

I have made quite some investigation of the merits of this visible 
card-index system. I have seen it actually in use at the receiving 
ship of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with probably 170,000 names. 
When I went into the figures some time ago and sumbitted them to 
the honorable Fourth Assistant Postmaster General, I figured that 
we would be able to furnish the equipment for a directory based upon 
300,000 names for an expenditure of approximately $4,000 or a little 
bit less. The cost of preparing those names, in my case, I did not 
go into extensively, because I was impressed with the idea that that 


48 


POSTAL BUSINESS . CONFEKENCE. 


should not stand in the way of such a system, in view of the fact 
that there w T as no directory in Brooklyn, and that we believe that 
we are returning to writer or to the Dead Letter Office at least 
2,000,000 pieces of mail a year which we might be able to deliver if 
we had a complete directory of the city. 

I am very much inclined to the opinion that the labor cost for 
directory service, after such a directory is once made, can be reduced 
one-lialf over the cost of reading from a purchased directory in small 
type, like the average city directory or telephone book. We are 
very much in need in Brooklyn, at least, of a directory, and I believe 
it would be unwise to go into the very considerable labor of prepar¬ 
ing a directory of 300,000 or 400,000 names except the most desir¬ 
able system, from the standpoint of limited cost, in operation of the 
directory service would receive consideration and a directory be made 
up along such lines. 

Mr. Blakslee (Fourth Assistant Postmaster General). Mr. Chair¬ 
man, following Mr. Burton’s suggestion, the department appointed 
a committee, or rather our bureau appointed a committee, to inquire 
into the proposition which he presented. I expected there would be 
some discussion of this subject and accordingly invited the committee 
to come here this afternoon in order to explain exactly what they 
have ascertained. 

From the analysis disclosed by Mr. Chance, the cost of the intro¬ 
duction of this system into the first-class post offices would be in the 
neighborhood of $5,400,000. It would cost $560,000 to introduce it, 
using three stenographers 90 days each, and thus w T e have confronting 
us an expenditure of approximately $6,000,000. The committee 
which inquired into the feature are here, and the chairman of this 
committee was the chief clerk of my bureau, Mr. Dow. I will ask 
him to explain to the conference what they have ascertained since 
Mr. Burton suggested it. His suggestion followed the use of the 
card-index system in one of the northwestern cities for some time, 
which had developed certain features that are no doubt interesting 
to postmasters. That is the situation up to this moment. The com¬ 
mittee will give any further information that the members of the 
conference may desire that follows what Mr. Burton had to say. 

Mr. Chance. May I ask if you figured what the saving would be 
in the event of the installation and use of that system? 

Mr. Blakslee. The proposition submitted by you, Mr. Chance, 
was that it would cost $9,000, and to install the system in your office 
wmuld cost between $6,000 and $12,000, Avhich I averaged and figured 
it at $9,000; $9,000 for the installation in your office I take as an 
average figure, and if we have 600 first-class post offices in the United 
States, the total cost would be $5,400,000 for installation. I raised 
no question of the economy that might result or the effect thereof, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


49 


for the reason that that, I presume, would be understood as being 
worth the price or we would not put it in. 

Mr. Chance. I only took it on the basis of a one-tliird saving. Mr. 
Burton said one-half, but I think it would be about one-third. 

Mr. Blakslee. Do I understand you mean if we spend $6,000,000 
we would save $2,000,000 £ 

Mr. Chance. No; not just in that way. 

Mr. Blakslee. Perhaps the committee who made the investigation 
can disclose more facts than I have at hand under the present status 
of the discussion. 

Mr. Burton. May I just say that I hope the merits of my special 
case, with no city directory in Brooklyn, will not be lost sight of in 
the discussion of this matter from the standpoint of its introduction 
into all the first-class offices ? 

Mr. Lansing M. Dow (chief clerk office of Fourth Assistant Post¬ 
master General). Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, we have been making 
investigations and inquiring into the various systems in use here in 
Washington. We have visited the Navy Department, where they 
use the card index. We have also visited the Signal Corps, where they 
have the system installed, and also the Western Union. The Western 
Union uses the index visible system. The Signal Corps, after using 
a number of systems, have adopted the Library Bureau system. The 
Navy Department, we found, is using the Cardex system. The com¬ 
mittee have not completed their investigation. They are trying to 
ascertain the merits of the various systems. They were not yet ready 
to submit a report. Most of these systems require you to continue 
the use of a certain card, and the department has been desirous, if 
they were going to adopt a system of this kind throughout the coun¬ 
try, to find one where they could use any card and not be tied down 
to a patented card. That is what this committee has been trying 
to ascertain, which one of the systems the department could adopt 
at a reasonable cost, where the department could use its own card. 

As I say, the committee have not yet completed their investigations 
along that line, and there is really nothing else I can state to you at 
this time. 

Mr. James E. Burke (Burlington, Yt.). Mr. Chairman, my city has 
a population of about 41,000 people. I presume likely my city, being 
one of the first-class post offices in the country, represents, as to the 
number of people we serve, quite a large percentage of the first-class 
post offices in the country. The system we have in our office is this: 
We have a city directory. Our carriers also keep a record of all the 
patrons and the changes that occur from day to day on their routes, 
to which we have access when necessary. In our directory, which 
the clerk uses for the purpose of taking care of this “ wild mail,” as 
113522°—19-4 


50 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


we call it, whenever Ave find a name that is not in the directory and 
discover that it can be delivered, A\ r e immediately add that name to 
the directory, so that with the system Ave have there we have a pretty 
good plan for taking care of this mail. 

Yesterday in talking with Mr. Burton Avith reference to the condi¬ 
tion in Brooklyn I certainly Avas surprised to find the conditions as 
he described them to me. This system that is recommended by Mr. 
Chance and Mr. Burton would not appeal, owing to the cost, very 
strongly to me, for the reasons I haA T e stated. We do not need it in 
my city very badly, but I do not see Avhy in quite a large percentage 
of the first-class offices about the size of mine they should need it any 
worse than my office needs this new system. 

In view of the situation that exists in Brooklyn, I can see that they 
have a right to come here before this gathering and ask for better 
facilities and assistance in the handling of the large amount of 44 wild 
mail ” that they must ha\ T e in that city, and as other cities must hav T e 
Avhich are the size of Brooklyn, and even other cities of smaller size. 
Taking into consideration the cost of installing this proposed system, 
I think quite a large percentage of the first-cla$3 offices could be 
eliminated from its consideration, so that it would reduce the cost to 
the department, if they saw T fit to install the system, and merely con¬ 
fine it to those large cities where it would appear to be absolutely 
necessary in order to increase the efficiency of the service. 

Mr. J. A. Lesner (Norfolk, Va.). Mr. Chairman, I move that, 
without recommendation, we refer this matter to the Fourth Assistant 
Postmaster General for consideration and action. 

Mr. Chance. Mr. Chairman, I move as a substitute that it be the 
sense of this meeting that the department shall try out this plan in 
the tAvo offices, say, Brooklyn and Washington. [Laughter.] There 
is no use of every first-class office figuring on this. To install it in 50 
of the larger offices, it Avill cost, instead of $6,000,000, about $250,000 
to $300,000, and it will saA r e, I am sure, more than that much during 
the first year it is installed. 

Mr. E. S. Shannon (Naslmlle, Tenn.). Mr. Chairman, if that 
motion is going to be seriously considered, I Avant to tell you that we 
are in the same situation as is described Avith reference to Brooklyn. 
Our city directory has been discontinued. The question is, what are 
we going to do for service in that line in the future? We do not 
recognize the telephone book as any sort of a reliable directory. Of 
course, this system, on its installation, will cost what seems to be a 
considerable sum of money, but think of the saving you Avill bring 
about after you have perfected the system and it is thoroughly in¬ 
stalled and working. That is where you will reduce the cost. I .hope 
it Avill be tried out in some way. If not, we will have to find ways and 
means for cities who can not or do not have the city directories. I 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


51 


am sorry to see a city so awfully poor that it does not have a city 
directory. I think after such a system is installed, the maintenance 
will be smaller than the present maintenance of inquiry sections 
throughout the larger offices. 

Mr. Koons. As I understand it, you are willing to second Mr. 
Chance’s motion, provided he includes Nashville? [Laughter.] 

Mr. Bolling H. Jones (Atlanta, Ga.). Mr. Chairman, I move that 
all such cities as Washington, Brooklyn, and Nashville be included 
in that class that can not afford city directories and that they be in¬ 
cluded in those cities in which the experiment shall be made by the 
department, if any. 

Mr. Burton. Mr. Chairman, I do not wish to prolong the discus¬ 
sion of this question, at least so far as my own relations to it are 
concerned. I am very glad to have these suggestions. In the event the 
experiment is conducted as suggested, I trust it will be done in alpha¬ 
betical order, because then Brooklyn would come before Washington 
and before Nashville in the consideration of this question. [Laugh¬ 
ter.] I do think there is so much merit in it that it ought to have 
a practical trial to demonstrate the actual cost and the degree of 
efficiency obtained. I believe that so far as our situation is con¬ 
cerned, some steps should be taken to do it without further delay. 

Mr. Philip Troup (New Haven, Conn.). Mr. Chairman, I do not 
think we ought to lose sight of this fact in the discussion here—and 
I agree heartily with Postmaster Chance, of Washington, and Post¬ 
master Burton, of Brooklyn—that a system which on its face has 
such apparent merit in saving and in efficiency ought to at least be 
given a trial. It is not a question of whether your directory service 
to-day is satisfactory for your present requirements and needs. The 
question is whether by the installation of this system you can save 
its cost in a year or two years’ time and then have a continuous and 
continuing saving after that over a long term of years. I have investi¬ 
gated rather carefully the visible index system, not one system alone, 
but a number of systems—I am wedded to no particular system—and I 
am convinced that the visible card-index system has tremendous merit 
as applied to certain postal operations. I am about to move over into 
a new building. 

The department has given me a beautiful $2,000,000 building, and 
naturally I am interested in getting the best and most modern ma¬ 
chinery for that place. After investigating this system I am con¬ 
vinced I can save, with a visible index, 50 per cent of my working 
time in the directory service, and I can save at least 33^ per cent, if 
not more, on boxing time, if I have a visible index alongside of my 
boxing bay; and if you use a visible index in place of your carrier 
route book you can put a rookie on the route, and he can work it up 
very much more rapidly and readily than by trying to run it out 


52 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


from the present carrier route book. The system has merit and cer¬ 
tainly ought to be investigated and certainly ought to be tried. It is 
not a question of the initial cost, provided that trial will demonstrate 
that it will save* to the department in a couple of years’ time the total 
initial cost, and then over a long period of time a continuous saving. 
We must advance. We must take up these new and better methods, 
if they are better, and we can not determine that unless we have a 
demonstration. I am heartily in favor of a trial, especially for 
Brooklyn and for Washington. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). Mr. Chairman, I believe every de¬ 
partment post office ought to be put on a paying basis; that is, ought 
to pay its own way. I heartily concur in the argument put forth by 
the Postmaster General yesterday along these lines. 

At our office we have ascertained that it costs about 2 cents to put 
a letter through the directory service, and about the same cost, of 
course, for a postal card. That is a feature that should not be lost 
sight of. The Post Office Department, when we go back to the 2-cent 
postage rate on July 1, will actually be losing money on every letter 
that goes through the directory. 

It is better, in my judgment, to educate the public in addressing 
their mail with street and number, so that you have something perma¬ 
nent, rather than to keep doing more and more and more and more for 
correcting the mistakes of the public in improperly addressing let¬ 
ters. I have no doubt the postmaster of Washington, D. C., has 
received letters addressed to “John Brown, Washington, D. C., 
Takoma Park Addition,” or some similar address. We receive them 
in our office in Portland, Oreg., frequently addressed to a division of 
the city or a special locality, and we have the same in regard to rural 
mail. Many times it will be addressed to a post office discontinued 
some 10 or 12 years ago. Some business houses think the post offices 
or postmasters ought to keep their books corrected up to date. It is 
better, in my judgment, not to give too full and good directory service. 
Let the patrons know there will be delays, and let them keep their 
records up to date at their own expense and save the department that 
much money and labor. 

Mr. Joel C. Clore (Cincinnati). Mr. Chairman, I believe we ought 
seriously to consider this matter as recommended by Mr. Burton and 
Mr. Chance. It will not be possible to secure an appropriation to put 
these in force in all of the first-class offices of the country in the 
beginning. I do not believe there is any need of this service in the 
smaller cities, even those without a directory. Washington, with its 
ever-changing population, needs something of this kind. In Cincin¬ 
nati, where everybody who is born there stays until he dies, and where 
everybody who comes into the city likes it so well he remains there, 
we do not need anything but our city directory, published every year. 



POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


53 


However, in trying this matter out in these two cities, Washington 
and Brooklyn, as it should be, I believe; if you find there will be a 
saving to the department in the operation of that directory system, 
then it can be introduced in other cities and opportunity afforded to 
Congress later to make an appropriation to pay the expense of intro¬ 
duction and installation. 

Mr. Koons. Of course, gentlemen, as Gov. Dockery explained, any 
vote of the convention is simply an expression of its opinion, which 
will be referred to the bureau or officers, having charge of the matter 
as the sense of this convention. I will put the motion as nearly as I 
can remember it—that it is the sense of this conference that this service 
be tried out as an experiment in Brooklyn, Washington, Nashville, or 
any other office which the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General may 
see fit or deem proper. I want it distinctly understood we are not in 
favor of any particular system or urging any particular system. I 
want that distinctly understood, but we will try it, if at all, as a 
visible directory system, having no reference now to any particular 
system. If that motion meets with the approval of the conference 
we will vote upon it with that understanding. 

(The motion w T as carried unanimously.) 

SPECIAL-DELIVERY SERVICE. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, the next subject for discussion is “ Special 
delivery service.” I do not know who submitted that. I know that 
last night I found this committee at work at about half past 10 or 11 
o’clock, and I think they were very tired and in a mood to receive any¬ 
thing; so I myself asked if they would take up this topic. If you will 
permit me to explain briefly what I had in mind I shall do so, as I 
want the advice of the postmasters and business men on this subject. 
First I will ask if anyone else has anything to say on the subject? 

Mr. George Rosenberg (publishers’ postal service, New York). 
Gentlemen, I brought up this question of special delivery service 
from an experience I had in New York on the day that the Twenty- 
seventh Division returned so valiantly from across seas. One of 
the publishers had their offices open all during that day and had 
their entire editorial staff on hand from about 7 a. m. until 7 p. m., 
waiting for a letter which was mailed at Pittsburgh the night before 
under a special delivery stamp. After waiting all day somebody 
along about 7 p. m. conceived the bright idea that it might be ad¬ 
visable to inquire at the post-office station, which incidentally was in 
the same building with the publishers’ offices, as to whether such a 
letter had been received. It was learned that the letter had been re¬ 
ceived ; that, according to the report of the messenger who had at¬ 
tempted delivery, the offices were closed. It was evident that the 


54 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


messenger assumed that because the day was proclaimed a holiday in 
New York City the office was closed and he never made any attempt 
to deliver that letter. 

When I learned that I was honored with an invitation to come 
before you gentlemen, the idea occurred to me to bring up that ques¬ 
tion and suggest that that receipt for a special delivery letter be 
done aw r ay with; that the messenger, if he has such a letter and even 
if he found the office closed or the addressee not at home, the party to 
whom the letter was addressed, he should leave the letter so that it 
would be on hand when it was looked for, either stuck under the 
door or in a letter box. As it is now a messenger calls with such a 
special delivery letter and it is not delivered. He takes it back to 
the post office and it then goes out on the first trip of the carrier next 
morning. The carrier has no hesitation in leaving it without a re¬ 
ceipt. My idea is that the receipt be done away with, and that a 
special delivery messenger should leave a special delivery letter, no 
matter what time he presents it, without requiring a receipt, and that 
a person be not required to call at the post office to obtain any special 
delivery mail. 

Mr. Koc3ns. In connection with this subject, in order to expedite 
our work just as much as possible, I will explain what I had in my 
own mind. When I sent out these letters to these business organiza¬ 
tions throughout the country, I was particularly impressed with the 
number of statements that came back to the effect the special delivery 
mail was even slower than the ordinary mail. I was at a loss for 
some time to understand just what the real trouble was. Of course, 
when a letter is delivered as a special delivery letter, we can not, 
under the present existing law, abolish or waive receipt for it because 
the law requires that a receipt shall be taken. The messenger at¬ 
tempts to make the delivery, but he is not able to do it oftentimes. 
He then takes the letter back to the post office and it then becomes 
ordinary mail and is delivered without any receipt. 

Here is an instance of what may occur: Suppose a man in New 
York, at 10 o’clock in the morning, would mail a letter to the Federal 
National Bank here in Washington. It would be received here too 
late to deliver it during banking hours, and it would not therefore 
be delivered until the following morning. The messenger may go 
out on his first trip in the morning and not be able to deliver that 
letter, making his effort before the bank is opened. He has to take 
it back to the post office, and it is then delivered as ordinary mail. 
The consequence is it does not reach the bank until possibly on the 
second or even the third regular delivery. If the same man who 
mailed the special-delivery letter had mailed an ordinary letter in 
New York at 9 o’clock at night on the same day, it should, in the 
regular course of business, be delivered on the first regular carrier 



POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


55 


delivery here the following morning, and nine times out of ten the 
ordinary letter would thus be delivered more quickly than the letter 
which had been mailed the preceding morning at 10 o’clock and had 
a special-delivery stamp on it. 

Special-delivery service was not instituted for safety. It was for 
the speed of the mail, the quick delivery of the mail after its arrival, 
to the place to which it is addressed. Under the present system a 
letter comes in addressed to your house with a special-delivery stamp 
on it. The messenger goes out with it, say, at 9 o’clock at night. Pos¬ 
sibly you and your family are out for the evening. He leaves a slip 
under the door, notifying you there is a special-delivery letter for 
you. You get back home at 12 o’clock at night. You may live 5 
miles from the post office, and the only place where you can obtain 
the letter is at the post office. The letter then comes out next morn¬ 
ing on the first regular delivery. If the messenger, instead of put¬ 
ting the slip under the door, had thrust the letter under the door or 
dropped it into a mail receptacle, if you have one, the letter would 
have been there when you reached home at night, and you would 
have received it instead of merely getting the notice. 

I think we possibly comply with the law—though I want this 
submitted to the solicitor for his opinion, if it is the judgment of 
the postmasters here present that it is practicable—for the messenger 
to take the letter out for delivery the same as he does at this time; 
and if he fails of delivery, he has effected the attempt to deliver it as 
a. special-delivery letter; and then if, instead of putting the notice 
under the door or in the mail receptacle, he would deliver the letter 
and fill out the notice and say it was impossible to deliver the letter 
as a special-delivery letter, and that the receipt could not for that 
reason be obtained, but the letter w r as delivered as ordinary mail, I 
think possibly that would be a compliance with the law. 

Of course, the first question that comes into the mind of a great 
many is the safety; that that would afford opportunity for the mes¬ 
senger to embezzle these letters. The messenger would have to bring 
back to the office either a receipt showing the delivery of the letter 
as a special delivery or as ordinary mail. If he attempted to em¬ 
bezzle the letter, every complaint would show up on his slip that he 
brought back, and would show that he delivered it as ordinary mail, 
if not as a special-delivery letter, and I think it would be a kind of 
practice that would cause us very little trouble. I believe if this 
course were followed we could expedite the delivery of special- 
delivery mail more than any one other thing we can do. Of course, 
the question comes up as to whether the public would look on that 
as a careless method. It would not save a cent to the department, it 
would not be of any advantage to the department, it would not be a 
move for economy, but it would be a move to improve the service to 


56 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFEBENCE. 


tlie patrons, and that would be the only object in jnaking the change. 
There may be objection to it that I have not thought of or consid¬ 
ered, and if there is, I wish you gentlemen would be frank enough 
to state it now, because if I can receive assurance that handling it in 
the way suggested is within the law, I should be inclined to start that 
at once. If it is not within the law, of course we would have to w T ait 
until we obtained appropriate legislation. 

Mr. Weaver. Mr. Chairman, it occurs to me there is greater danger 
of a letter being miscarried, and that the danger would be from the 
public and not from the messenger. Those letters might go to many 
places where people would steal the letters. The fact that this is a 
special-delivery letter and has a special-delivery stamp on it is a 
notice to the public that the letter is of unusual importance and per¬ 
haps of unusual value, or it would not be sent in that way. There 
are a good many places where it w T ould be delivered, in my judg¬ 
ment, from which it would be stolen, and it might be shoved under a 
door or left in some place where it would not be secure at all from 
theft. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). I hate to be talking on all these 
subjects, but I came the farthest of any delegate, so I ought to be en¬ 
titled to have a little say. We have a system at our office in Portland, 
Oreg., and have had for three or four years, that we send out a circu¬ 
lar letter to all the banks and business houses, asking them to state 
in writing what disposition they want made of their special-delivery 
mail that arrives on Sundays and holidays and after 11 o’clock p. m., 
or after it is too late to be delivered. We have a card index of all 
those firms showing just exactly what disposition they want made of 
these letters. Most of the business houses want their mail delivered 
by regular carrier on the first trip the next morning, so it will be on 
the business man’s desk by the time he gets there. A great many 
people do not like to be waked up at night with a special-delivery let¬ 
ter, and they write us letters and say, “ Keep those letters there until 
the first regular delivery the following morning.” Of course, that 
would hardly apply to the ordinary letter that goes to a residence to 
an individual who has no address on file and no instructions as to 
what disposition shall be made, and we attempt to deliver those in the 
regular way and have practically no trouble along that line. 

I have considered this special-delivery feature from every possible 
angle that I can think of, and it is pretty hard to improve on the pres¬ 
ent system, especially from the fact that a great many people will 
send currency through the mails in special-delivery letters, and we 
have to show a receipt to show the disposition of that letter to clear 
the office. 

Mr. Patten (New York). Mr. Chairman, I hate to be in opposition 
to my old friend, Claude Weaver, on this proposition, but there is 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


57 


one element in regard to this which must be considered from the 
standpoint of a large post office, and that is if this special-delivery 
letter is not delivered, in the first instance, it immediately becomes 
ordinary mail and must take the same, chances as ordinary mail. 
This special-delivery proposition is very complicated in New York 
by this situation: If a special delivery fails on the first delivery and 
the addressee learns of the attempted delivery, he immediately goes 
to the post office for it, and in New York City it is a very difficult 
question to satisfy the post-office clerk in the matter of identifica¬ 
tion. Then the letter has to go through the regular course of regular 
delivery again. There is only the one attempt made for special de¬ 
livery. If that fails, it becomes ordinary mail, and there is no more 
care taken of it by the department after that than of any ordinary 
mail. 

So far as New York is concerned, I should heartily desire to see 
this experiment made. I am quite confident it will expedite all our 
deliveries. 

Mr. Otto N. Baths (St. Paul). Mr. Chairman, I heartily concur 
in your idea of changing this special-delivery service. I think we 
ought to stick to the fact that this stamp is meant for special-delivery 
service and nothing else, and not forsake it, and I certainly hope you 
will be able to convince the solicitor in order to make this change. 

About two weeks ago we received a special-delivery letter, on the 
envelope of which the sender had specifically stated on the outside, 
“ If not able to obtain a receipt, deliver this letter anyway.” Of 
course, the solicitor ruled that practice could not be put into effect. I 
heartily concur with your desire that an attempt be made to change 
this as you have suggested. 

William B. Loudenslager (Atlantic City, N. J.). Mr. Chairman, 
Atlantic City is peculiar to itself. The residential section of Atlantic 
City is comprised of a floating population. The population of At¬ 
lantic City is ordinarily 50,000, but in the summer time we have about 
350,000. People come there and have got to rent a cottage or an 
apartment house or go into a hotel, and they do not stay in their cot¬ 
tages or apartment houses or hotels, of course. They are out on the 
boardwalk to get the good fresh air we have there. The regulations 
of the Post Office Department says that we can try to deliver a special- 
delivery letter at a man’s place of business, and if he is not at his place 
of business we can take it to his house. That comprises two trials, I 
believe. Of course, the plan works vice versa—that is, if we do not 
find him at his house we go to his place of business. Then there is 
another section of the regulations which says we shall only make one 
attempt at delivery, when the letter becomes ordinary mail. Trying 
to satisfy the people of Atlantic City and give them the best possible 
service, I have made two and three attempts at delivery, to try to 


58 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


reach the parties, and I have had very little complaint—hardly any, 
in fact—until about a year ago the inspector came along and said: 
“ You should only make one delivery.” Of course, I am up against 
it, then, you know. However, following his instructions I started 
to make but one delivery, and then I began to get into trouble. 

I wrote the department about the situation there, stating my case 
and relating the circumstances to them, and asking if I could not 
make two or three deliveries at no cost to the department, not a penny 
of extra cost. I did not get any reply to that letter, and I thought, of 
course, that silence means “ Go ahead; J, can not tell you to do so, but 
go ahead,” so I did go ahead. Along came the inspector again, and he 
found out what I was doing, and said: “You are not doing what I 
told you to do.” I said, “No; I am not.” He looked daggers at me, 
and I said, “I will comply with your ruling,” and that is what I am 
doing to-day. But I will say to you, my friends, and Mr. Assistant 
Postmaster General, that I would very much like to have the privi¬ 
lege of delivering that letter. 

Here is my way of doing it. The special-delivery boy goes to a 
house. There is nobody at home. They are out somewhere. The 
situation is that somebody, no doubt, has come to Atlantic City; prob¬ 
ably they are at the house rooming there, and they are a guest, and 
they have run out of money, and a special-delivery letter comes, and 
probably there is something there saying, “ Stay another day or 'two* 
and here is the money.” If they do not get that letter, of course they 
can not stay. The letter then may not be delivered until after they 
have gone, and no matter what kind of a delivery you make then, they 
do not get the letter, and it lays somewhere, either at that residence 
or at the office, and by the time it is returned to the sender the opinion 
has been formed that Atlantic City is the worst place in the country 
so far as postal service is concerned. 

All I ask, Mr. Assistant Postmaster General, is to be given that 
privilege, at no expense to the Post Office Department, because in 
the summer time we have 50 boys working on that service. Our city 
is situated so that a boy goes out at this moment with a bundle of 
special delivery letters, and if a letter comes back not delivered, there 
is another boy going right over the same ground with 10 or 15 letters, 
and this undelivered letter is turned over to him, and if he delivers 
it he gets the money for that delivery and the boy that brought it 
back undelivered does not get anything; but that boy by that time 
has gone out with another package of special delivery letters and he 
may have in his bundle a letter undelivered by some other boy on a 
previous trip, and thus the thing evens up all around, so that they all 
get something. There is no complaint about that sort of service ex¬ 
cept from the department, and I only want to save any complaint 
coming from our patrons. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


59 


Mr. Shannon (Nashville). We have the same system as my friend 
from Portland, Oreg. People coming back home late at night usu¬ 
ally do not look in their letter boxes for mail. Sometimes they.may 
get into the mail box when they are really looking for the keyhole. 
[Laughter.] But here is a difficulty that must be considered in con¬ 
nection with delivery of that sort: Suppose the person to whom the 
letter was addressed has removed for a short while or left town for 
some reason, and the regular carrier has the forwarding address, and 
there is nobody in the house the next day who will find this special 
delivery letter shoved under the door. I suggest that thought for 
"your consideration. 

If the gentleman from Atlantic City wants special delivery car¬ 
riers for the boardwalk department, I think all these gentlemen here 
would like to have the job next summer. [Laughter.] 

Mr. Purdy (Minneapolis). Mr. Chairman, this special delivery 
system has a great many arguments on both sides, but I will say 
during the past year we have had some five or six occasions when 
from 1,000 to 1,500 special deliveries were dumped in on us after 
8 o’clock at night that must be delivered that night. Of course, we 
must get a receipt for them, and the greatest storm of protest has 
followed in the next few days from people who were disturbed at all 
hours of the night to sign for those letters, wanting to know why on 
earth we can not leave that letter without disturbing them. That 
is one side of it. Of course, the other side has been brought out 
here by several speakers, and I do not know how it could be ar¬ 
ranged so that everyone would be satisfied. When people are using 
the special delivery system and paying the special delivery fee for 
a speedy delivery they do not want that letter to be carried over until 
the next day and then delivered by a carrier as ordinary mail is 
delivered. There are very many people in my judgment who use 
special delivery service for safety. It is usually for speed. I be¬ 
lieve it is and was intended for speed and not for safety, and I 
believe the general public would appreciate the fact of the special de¬ 
livery letter being delivered when it was received without regard 
to a written receipt. 

Mr. J. J. O’Donnell (Holyoke, Mass.). Mr. Chairman, we have 
had quite a few cases in Holyoke among our larger manufacturers; 
and I know the gentleman from Atlantic City will say that any per¬ 
son gets a better run for 10 cents special delivery in Atlantic City 
than he gets for anything else there. [Laughter.] The special pur¬ 
pose in putting on a 10-cent special-delivery stamp is to get action, to 
speed up the letter, to give it all celerity possible. I have had a 
number of these manufacturers tell me, “ This letter was received at 
10 o’clock at night; why didn’t we get it? We get our regular mail 
faster than that.” They are sorely disappointed because that letter is 


GO 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


not rushed over to them. If we leave it there we will satisfy ninety- 
nine, where we will have only one dissatisfaction on the other side. I 
think it is again a case of satisfying the overwhelming majority by 
having the special-delivery letter left there. As the gentleman from 
New York suggested, if it is not left there, then it must be left in 
the regular process of delivery afterwards anyhow, and without a 
receipt. I certainly hope that the suggestion for expediting the 
special-delivery service will obtain, and I move you, sir, that it be 
brought to a vote. 

Mr. Burke (Burlington, Vt.). Mr. Chairman, I do not want to 
take up any time unnecessarily, but there is another feature of this 
that should be considered by every postmaster here. That is that the 
system now in vogue is a protection to the postmaster in many 
instances. I have had a number of instances where, I am frank to 
tell you, I was mighty pleased to be able to go and find a slip show¬ 
ing that attempted delivery of a certain special-delivery letter had 
been made. 

Mr. Koons. You would still have that under this proposed system. 
You would have a receipt where they were delivered, and where they 
were not delivered you would have a slip showing there was an 
attempted delivery. 

Mr. Burke. Oh, all right. Why not deliver with the special- 
delivery letter a penalty card, to be signed and returned by the re¬ 
cipient of the letter, showing the receipt of it, as a protection to the 
boy and the postmaster? 

Mr. B. E. Springsteen (Indianapolis). Mr. Chairman, I heartily 
approve of that suggestion, but it should in a great measure be left 
to the discretion of the postmaster whether he would get a receipt 
or whether he would feel safe in delivering the letter without it. 

Mr. Koons. I would suggest, gentlemen, that we can not, under 
the law as it exists, abolish the receipt for a special-delivery letter, 
where delivery is made as a special delivery; and you will still have 
the same receipt that you have at this time. It would not be neces¬ 
sary to send it to the banks, as the gentleman from Portland, Oreg., 
suggested, or those other places where they do not want special de¬ 
liveries made at night. This proposed plan will not disturb your spe¬ 
cial service in any way, except that it will expedite delivery of the 
letters where the boy is not able to make delivery at the time of the 
first attempt. 

If you gentlemen feel that this should not be done, do not hesitate 
to vote against it. We want to know the honest convictions of all 
of you gentlemen on this subject. Then, too, do not forget this gives 
you an opportunity to overrule a man that frequently overrules you. 
[Laughter.] 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


61 


We may not try this in all offices. We may try it in certain offices 
for a while. All in favor of trying out the proposed plan of delivery 
of special-delivery letters as ordinary mail at the time the attempt 
is made to deliver and there is no response to the call, will please 
say “Aye.” Those opposed say “No.” The ayes have it, and the 
motion is carried. 

There is one other matter that comes up in connection with this 
special-delivery service which I do not believe it is necessary to take 
time to discuss, because our policy is practically determined upon 
and I think it meets with the approval of everybody, and that is the 
delivery of the larger parcels in the city. It is our intention, just as 
soon as w 7 e can frame the regulations, to make a separate delivery 
service for the special-delivery parcels, the large parcels in the city, 
and use our own vehicles or vehicles under contract and segregate 
that service entirely from the delivery of special-delivery letters. 
Unless there is some objection to that on the part of some one, we 
will pass to the next subject. 

Mr. Clore (Cincinnati). Mr. Chairman, I suggest we take up that 
matter of working the parcel-post business which you have tagged 
up with the special-delivery parcels here. 

Mr. Koons. I think that is covered further down the line. We 
could use our own employees—for instance, our regular letter car¬ 
riers. 

Mr. Clore. For the 8 cents? 

Mr. Koons. No. We would use the regular letter carrier and a 
Ford or some other light motor truck, and we would not charge the 
8 cents against the special-delivery service, but pay him his regular 
salary. Our instructions on that will be out in the very near future. 
PI ad we been able to get motor trucks, we would have adopted this 
some months ago. 

Mr. E. A. Purdy (Minneapolis). Mr. Chairman, may I ask a ques¬ 
tion as to whether or not it will be possible to have reciprocal rela¬ 
tions with Canada in regard to special-delivery service ? 

Mr. Koons. I was under the impression that they were estab¬ 
lished several years ago. Perhaps I am wrong in that. I know I 
made a trip to Canada with other gentlemen for that purpose, and 
we recommended that we deliver their mail matter with their special- 
delivery stamp affixed, according them a special-delivery service and 
they would accord our mail the same service. If that is not in 
vogue, at this time, I shall be glad to take it up with the Canadian 
authorities and see if we can work it out. Our understanding at 
that time was that they would recognize our special-delivery stamp, 
and when their special-delivery stamp was placed on Canadian mail 
coming into this country, we would recognize it. 


62 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. W. E. Hurley (Boston). I think it is imperative that if post¬ 
masters adopt that suggestion of treating special-delivery mail as 
ordinary mail, that forwarding addresses be very carefully checked 
up before letters are given to messengers. The average messenger 
is apt to be careless, and if he wants to put a letter in a house he is 
not careful to determine whether it may be a vacant house, in which 
event it would be very difficult to recover the letter. The forwarding 
addresses should be very carefully checked up. 

Mr. Koons. I think that is a very good suggestion, and we will 
try to safeguard it in that way. 

EXPEDITING PAYMENT OF INDEMNITIES ON INSURED PARCEL-POST CLAIMS. 

Mr. Koons. The next subject for our consideration, gentlemen, is 
expedition in the payment of indemnities on insured parcel-post 
claims. I will ask Assistant Postmaster General Dockery to begin 
the discussion of that subject. 

Mr. Dockery. Gentlemen, I think I explained pretty fully in the 
remarks I made this morning why we were in arrears in the settle¬ 
ment of indemnity claims. If anyone desires to ask a question, I 
shall be glad to answer it. 

I will say, however, that on the 1st of January, 1918, the business 
was current. Due to the war and for the reasons I set forth at length 
in my remarks this morning, especially with reference to conditions 
at cantonments which are now being dismantled by the War Depart¬ 
ment, there was an immense increase in the volume of parcel-post 
mail, and consequently a proportionate increase of indemnity claims. 
We also had for some time an insufficient clerical force, which has 
been working overtime; but before the 1st day of May next business 
will again be current. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Org.). Mr. Chairman, in order to expedite 
this matter, I move that the subject matter of No. 4, “Expediting 
the payment of indemnities on insured parcel-post claims,” be re¬ 
ferred to the Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General for 
consideration and action. 

(The motion was unanimously carried.) 

SAFEGUARDING PARCEL-POST PACKAGES. 

Mr. Koons. The next subject for discussion is No. 5, suggestions 
that “ in order to safeguard and protect the ownership of parcel- 
post packages the postmaster be instructed to urge the shipper to 
inclose in the package a label or card bearing the names of the 
sender and the addressee, so as to obviate loss when the label or tag 
on the outside is destroyed or lost.” 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 63 

That would also be a great deal of help to us in the Dead Letter 
Office. 

Mr. Dockery. I think that suggestion came from my good friend 
and distinguished Missourian, Mr. Jackson, of Mexico, Mo. I do 
not see him here at this moment, but I might say that he submitted 
it to the bureau yesterday, and we assured him that it should have 
immediate and prayerful attention. [Laughter.] If that is suffi¬ 
cient for Brother Jackson—I see he has just entered the room—we 
will let it go at that. 

Mr. W. K. Jackson. That is sufficient for me. I move the matter 
be referred to the Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster Gen¬ 
eral. 

Mr. Myers. I second the motion. 

Mr. Koons. I would like to ask a question of Mr. Schmidt, who 
represents a mail-order house. Do y ou people at this time inclose 
a label similar to this one proposed? 

Mr. A. B. Schmidt (Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago). We simply 
inclose the invoice, which has the name of the customer and his ad¬ 
dress on it, so that takes care of this proposition so far as we are con¬ 
cerned. That is permissible under the postal regulations because it 
merely describes the merchandise inclosed. 

Mr. Clore (Cincinnati). I tiled a written suggestion of this kind 
with the committee and had a long talk with Gov. Dockery on the 
subject yesterday. We find—being a division headquarters for dead 
letters or dead matter of any kind, covering the three States of 
Ohio, Indiana, and Kentuck}'—that we have thousands of packages 
coming in there that might be returned to the sender or to the ad¬ 
dressee if this information were contained in the package somewhere. 
Sometimes clerks will examine packages very carelessly when they 
come in and something valuable will get by. A few days ago while 
arranging some of our matter for auction sale, a package was brought 
to me which originated in Philadelphia. The S. S. White Dental 
Manufacturing Co. had sent a package of gold plate to Knoxville, 
Tenn. The value of that package was $516. It had been in our 
dead section for six months, because the clerk opened it, saw some 
brushes, etc., and ^ent a notice to Philadelphia, but did not follow it 
up. This package was found there and we discovered the value 
of it, and we are now sending it back to the people who should have 
had it returned to them promptly in the beginning. If something 
had been in that package to indicate its ownership, that might have 
been done without any difficulty whatever. 

There is another thing I want to say in connection with this mat¬ 
ter, and that is that if this information is contained in the package, 
every package of obvious value received should be returned to the 
postmaster of the office of mailing under cover and collect from the 


64 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


sender tlie postage due by returning it, so it may be immediately 
reconsigned to the addressee. The department can not lose anything 
on that. There is never a package mailed that is not worth the 
postage to cover its mailing. 

Mr. Dockery. We have made three separate efforts at sessions of 
Congress to get that legislation. 

Mr. Clore. I know it. 

Mr. Dockery. But through no fault of ours, merely because we 
happened to be caught in “ bad company ” from a legislative stand¬ 
point, we failed. 

Mr. Clore. I understand that, and what I want to say is that I 
believe now, when an appropriation bill is passed before this next 
Congress, if that matter can be introduced as a separate and distinct 
matter by some member of the postal committee and be urged, it will 
be put through. Let an organization get behind it, let the big par- 
cels-post mailers of the country get behind it, and instead of selling 
$12,000 worth of this stuff that is probably worth $25,000 in the first 
five or six months, all this matter will be returned to the sender and 
will so run a chance of being delivered and we will get our postage 
when it gets back. It saves millions of letters being written, it saves 
the time of clerks, it satisfies the mailer, and it will almost do away 
with your indemnity section. This ought not to be passed over 
lightly, in my opinion. 

Mr. Dockery. Let me assure you we will renew our efforts, and 
when we make the next effort it will be the fourth time repeated. 

Mr. Clore. Do not get it through in an appropriation bill. 

Mr. Dockery. The trouble is we never can get it through unless it is 
incorporated in an appropriation bill, and even when it has found a 
place there it has not gotten through. 

Mr. Clore. Let us not stop at that. In the meantime the depart¬ 
ment ought to change its regulation in regard to sending out notices 
to the sender when the sender is known. The post office where the 
package is lost, you may say, sends one notice to the sender. It waits 
2 weeks or 15 days. Not receiving the postage to return it, the post¬ 
master sends it to the division headquarters dead-letter section. It 
comes in there and we are required to send out another notice. I 
tested this at the Cincinnati post office and found that the first notice 
disposes of 75 per cent of all that matter and the second notice dis¬ 
poses of 50 per cent of the remainder of it. Why send in, from five 
or six thousand post offices, this matter to one post office, where that 
second notice must be sent, instead of having each of the post offices 
where the matter was lost send the second notice and thus get back 
to the sender another 12J per cent of this matter, instead of sending 
it in to the dead section of the post office? The first notice is sent 
out by the post office where the package is lost, and if the postage is 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


65 


not sent within the time required by the notice the matter is then sent 
to the deacl-letter office. Meantime the sender has remitted the post¬ 
age, it reaches there, and it is sent back to him and he is told, “ This 
package has gone to the dead-letter office.” He then sends that same 
amount of postage to the dead-letter office, endeavoring to get the 
package, and he is then told, “ There is now added postage and it will 
require 27 cents more ” to get his package. He is not in a very good 
humor by the time he sends that second amount. We return the first 
amount to him. That could be obviated in thousands of cases if you 
will require the postmaster who finds this package lost in the mail, 
without any address, to send the second notice before he mails that 
package in to the dead section. 

Mr. Koons. Your idea would be, after it gets to the dead-letter 
section, they would not send any notice at all ? 

Mr. Clore. That is correct. The second notice should be sent from 
the first office. 

Mr. Jackson (Mexico, Mo.). The other matter that comes up with 
reference to Mr. Clore’s suggestions would be whether or not the 
postmaster finding this package and finding the address inclosed 
would be entitled to accept of this inclosed address label or tag, what¬ 
ever it may be, as the sender’s address, notifying the sender that the 
parcel is held for postage for its return. It would be a matter 
whether the postmaster would have or not to accept of that as his 
information as to the sender. 

Mr. Ivoons. I think we can cover that in a regulation that will be 
framed and put into effect. 

Gentlemen, it has been moved that No. 5, “ In order to safeguard 
and protect the ownership of parcel-post packages, the postmaster 
be instructed to urge the shipper to inclose in the package a label or 
card bearing the names of the sender and the addressee, so as to 
obviate loss when the label or tag on the outside is destroyed or lost,” 
be adopted. Are you ready for the question ? 

(The motion was unanimously carried.) 

Mr. Koons. I should also like to ask an expression of opinion on 
the last matter that Mr. Clore brought up. Of course, Mr. Clore is 
postmaster at division headquarters, and there are only 15 of those 
offices in the United States. I do not know whether the other post¬ 
masters will agree with him or not, but if some one will make a 
motion I shall be glad to entertain it along the lines of the suggestion 
that a second notice be sent out from the office of address where the 
package is held instead of only sending the parcel on to the dead- 
letter office. 

Mr. Springsteen (Indianapolis). I will make that motion, Mi. 
Chairman, that we concur in the suggestion of Mr. Clore. 

113522—19-5 


66 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


(The motion was carried.) 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, Mr. Selph asked me to suggest an adjourn¬ 
ment at 4.30. If it is agreeable now, we will adjourn until half past 
10 to-morrow morning. 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). I move the hour be fixed at 10 o’clock to¬ 
morrow morning. [Cries of “ Make it 9.30.”] 

Mr. Koons. There seems to be a desire to make the hour of meeting 
to-morrow morning at 9.30 instead of 10 or 10.30. What have you to 
say about that? 

Mr. Davis (Roanoke). Mr. Chairman, yesterday, I believe, some¬ 
thing was said about going to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
to-morrow morning. What are we going to do about that? [Cries 
of “ Let us get down to business.”] 

Mr. Koons. We will leave that to the desire of the conference 
to-morrow morning. I believe there are one or two representatives 
of some of these business concerns who are interested especially in one 
or two of these subjects and who desire to leave early to-morrow. 
If they will let me know about that before 9.30 to-morrow morning, 
we will bring up those subjects first. 

Mr. Davis (Roanoke). I move we adjourn until to-morrow morn¬ 
ing at half past 9. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). I move that we stay here this after¬ 
noon until 6 o’clock. 

Mr. Koons. If that is the desire of the conference, we will go 
right ahead. I am very glad personally to adopt the suggestions of 
the members of the conference. [Cries of “ Go ahead; go ahead.”] 

RECEIPTS FOR INSURED PARCELS UPON DELIVERY. 

Mr. Koons. No. 6 is the next topic for discussion, “ Shall receipts be 
taken for insured parcels when delivery is made ? ” 

Mr. Dockery. I suggest that the First Assistant Postmaster Gen 
eral give us his views on that question. 

Mr. Koons. I shall be glad to have whoever submitted that ques¬ 
tion state their views on it. 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). Mr. Chairman, I think I asked for that to 
be discussed. In my office for the year 1916 we only filed 171 cases 
from July, 1916, to June 30,1917. From July, 1917, to June 30, 1918, 
we filed 1,594. 

Mr. Koons. How many of those were Camp Hancock cases? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). Camp Hancock is not our place, but there 
were not a great many from the place. In our State we have a great 
many colored people, and they soon found out that no receipts were 
required and no receipts were given, and they would come in after a 
week or 10 days and claim they did not get the package, and the man 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


67 

who sent it would come back taus in regard to it, and we would have 
to go and look it up and go through the packages on the shelves and 
look for that package, and we had to employ one or two clerks, and 
they were giving their entire time to that particular work. So it 
would be cheaper for us to require a receipt than it is to handle it the 
way it is being handled. I think a great many packages are being 
paid for that have been delivered. That is the only reason why I 
wanted the matter brought up. 

Mr. Smyer (Birmingham, Ala.). I also suggest the taking of 
receipts. There is absolutely no record of C. O. D. or insured as an 
incoming parcel. There is pending now in my office a claim for $400 
for four separate parcels of millinery. There is a faint suspicion that 
that is not a just claim. We do not know, of course; but we do know 
that this party has received most of his millinery for the last 6 or 8 or 
10 months through the parcel post. There ought to be a record by 
which we could say that that package was delivered or that it never 
reached the office, and for that reason the sender would be better satis¬ 
fied and the department should be. 

I understand the department would rather pay that claim than to 
know that it was really and in fact delivered. 

Friday there was a gentleman came into my office and handed me a 
voucher from the department for $17.50 for a claim that had been 
paid. He said, “ I found that I was mistaken about that matter and 
we did receive that parcel package.” The proposition is whether or 
not this matter should be handled properly and safely, or whether 
or not the department would rather pay the unjust claims that they 
will necessarily have to pay, because it is too expensive to put the sug¬ 
gestion into effect. It is a departmental matter. 

Mr. J. M. Weddington (Charlotte, N. C.). Mr. Chairman, my 
office has had the same experience as that of the gentleman who just 
spoke. We have had claims disputed by reputable people, well-known 
business men, when we had receipts for the packages. We would take 
a receipt up and show them the receipt for the package, and they 
would say, “ That receipt is good,” and a further examination would 
show that they had the package, but had overlooked it in their previ¬ 
ous search for it. They told us they had not received it, and they did 
it in good faith. We had the record, fortunately, and of course that 
settled it, and they had to admit they had received the package. We 
have had the same experience this gentleman had. We had one man 
honest enough to bring us a check that he got for an insured parcels 
post package that he. said did not belong to him and that he really had 
received the parcel. 

Mr. Thornton (Richmond, Va.). I know one or two postmasters 
who undertook to settle this matter and bring it before the depart¬ 
ment. We all know the trouble, so I undertook to see what the result 


68 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


would be without authority of the department and required the car¬ 
riers and clerks to take receipts. I prepared a form of receipt on the 
mimeograph, which I found answered the purpose. We probably 
have had 10,000 of these claims of various kinds, but when I got into 
it my superintendent of mails informed me if I insisted on it, I would 
curtail deliveries, to accomplish the same amount of work, and that 
we would do without it. I found to continue it I would have to go 
into an expense account to an extent which I did not feel I was justi¬ 
fied in doing, and so I had to stop it. It seems to me if these inde¬ 
pendent companies or corporations will insure for 2^ cents, and are 
paying these claims without any trouble at all, that the question of 
delivery, so far as cost to the Government is concerned, is not or 
should not be as great as w T ould otherwise appear, but certainly it is a 
very expensive proposition and it will cost at least 25 per cent more in 
course of time, because we have to count the carriers’ time. If these 
independent companies can afford to handle and-insure these packages 
for 2J cents, I do not see why we can not do it for 3 cents. 

Mr. Koons. I will say for the information of the postmasters pres¬ 
ent that in the beginning of the parcel-post business w T e took a receipt 
for every insured parcel at the time it was delivered. We made a 
very careful test covering quite a lengthy period of time. One thing 
that 1 impressed us was that the outside insurance people took no 
receipts; they did not have evidence that a parcel was deposited in 
the mail or that it was ever delivered. Of course, they had this ad¬ 
vantage, that they sold insurance to the public and they could elect 
to whom they would sell it, whereas in the Post Office Department we 
did business with everybody and we insured parcels no matter by 
whom offered. We made a very careful test. We found that it did 
slow down delivery materially and reduce the number of parcels that 
a man could deliver in a day. For instance, the carrier rings a door¬ 
bell, and if it is an ordinary parcel he can hand it to the servant or 
whoever answers the bell and go. However, if it is an insured parcel, 
they have sometimes to send for the lady of the house or somebody 
authorized to sign, and by the time they secure a pencil there is a 
loss of time which in the aggregate becomes quite material. We found 
it was costing us at least 5 cents, under the most liberal estimate, to 
secure that receipt. We tested it out in Pittsburgh for a year to 
deliver parcels Avithout a receipt. 

To our great surprise the percentage of claims for indemnity did 
not increase any, and it did not cost us any more for indemnity from 
that city than when Ave had the other system. We next tried, as I 
recall, Washington and Baltimore, where we delivered without ob¬ 
taining receipts. I presume Ave experimented there for six months 
and the tests there brought the same results. The superintendent of 
the division that has charge of these claims informs me that there 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


69 


are 60,000,000 insured and C. O. D. parcels a year. If we obtain a 
receipt for parcels at the time of delivery,it means we obtain 60,000,000 
receipts. It is not only the obtaining of the receipts, but the filing of 
them after the carrier returns to the office. The claims for indemnity 
were only for 170,000 packages out of that 60,000,000. It is true that 
here and there there may be a claim which is unjust. It may cost us 
something, and we realized at the time we put these regulations in 
effect it would cost us a little more for indemnity, but a great deal less 
than if w T e went through, the process of getting a receipt for each 
package delivered. The Government I believe can afford to deliver 
parcels as we are delivering now and will save a great deal of money. 

I am informed that in the cases where large quantities are delivered 
the question is up now of putting in or installing a bulk billing 
system, so that receipts can be obtained where very large numbers of 
parcels are delivered. I am only making this statement for the in¬ 
formation of the postmasters as to what Ave considered before we made 
the change, and frankly, before we ever made the change, most of us 
Avere against it in the department and thought it was an unwise mo\ T e. 
But we tested it out and our action w r as based on our actual ex¬ 
perience. 

I Avant you, gentlemen, to feel free to express your opinion on this 
matter, and if it is the sense of the members of the conference that Ave 
shall go back to the old system of obtaining receipts—in other w T ords, 
that we get receipts for insured parcels in each instance—I certainly 
Avant you to say so, because Ave w T ant a free expression, a sincere ex¬ 
pression of opinion on all these matters, notwithstanding what our 
policy may have been or what we are doing about it and regardless 
of our individual views. We- want the views of the members of the 
conference, and that is the principal reason why you Avere called here. 
Is there anyone else who desires to discuss the matter ? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). I will withdraw my objection. 

Mr. Selph (St. Louis). Mr. Chairman, before you proceed further 
with the discussion of this question, I understand that the conference 
has agreed not to adjourn until 6 o’clock. We have gone to a great 
deal of expense in arranging for this dinner, and the hour is set at 
6.30. If you do not adjourn here until 6 o’clock, that will mean prob¬ 
ably 7.30 before the members of the conference will appear at the 
dinner. I Avant to appeal to this conference to take an earlier recess, 
because I knoAV these men do not all live at the Raleigh, Avhere we 
are going to give the banquet, and it will take them some little time 
to go to their hotels and dress, if they desire to dress, and then get 
to the Raleigh. 

A Delegate. We were told we were not to dress for the dinner. 

Mr. Selpii. That is true. It is to be an informal affair. But Ave do 
not want to have the success of our dinner marred by being late in 


70 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


beginning it, and I trust you will reconsider that motion to adjourn 
at 0 o’clock, and I ask you to take an adjournment at least by half 
past 5. I am asking that as the representative of your host at the 
dinner. [Cries of “Adjourn at 5.30.”] 

Mr. Ivoons. There seems to be a willingness to comply with Mr. 
Selph’s request, and I have no doubt it may be understood we will take 
an adjournment at that time, as he requests. 

Does anyone else wish to discuss the question before us? 

Mr. A. Ross Read (Akron, Ohio). Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the 
reasons, of course, for abandoning the obtaining of a receipt for an 
insured package, but it was the source of a great deal of annoyance 
to us in Akron. Akron is growing very rapidly. It is not a question 
that everybody there is not as honest as they are some place else, 
especially the people who come in there, but it is the sense of the 
entire force there that has charge of this work that the receipts ought 
to be obtained and that that plan ought to be reinstated. Of course, 
the expense may be something to consider. I should like to ask the 
First Assistant Postmaster General if he counted in the expense of 
the inspectors in looking up these losses? 

Mr. Koons. We counted only the expense of the time of the delay 
of the wagons and the cost of delivery. We did not count the ques¬ 
tion of* clerk hire for the filing of the receipts, which would far more 
than offset or, I think, would pay the entire salary of the inspectors in 
that service. 

Mr. Read. The inspectors are a source of annoyance to us in Akron, 
for the reason we can hardly ever get them there. [Laughter.] We 
have had to wait. We like to see them come around, and if they 
would only come around oftener and stay longer when they do come 
it would please us more; but we have great trouble in searching out 
some of these matters and looking up losses, for the reason we can not 
get hold of the inspectors. 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma). I move the present system be continued. 

Mr. Read (Akron). Before that motion is put I should like to say 
with regard to the present system that it reflects upon the post office 
and upon the credit of the post office, every loss that occurs in that 
way. It seems to me we would obviate and get rid of all the expense 
that is being entailed by returning to the receipts. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). I used to have a very sensitive conscience 
about the growth in the number of indemnity claims, but after having 
heard Gov. Dockery’s statement of the condition of the “ kitty ” of 
the insured-parcel business, my conscience is entirely relieved. I be¬ 
lieve we ought to continue the present system of not taking any 
receipts. 

(The motion to continue the present system of not taking any 
receipts was carried.) 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


71 


Mr. B. H. Rucker (Rolla, Mo.). Mr. Chairman, may I refer back 
to No. 1, relative to “ return receipts for registered mail,” to ask why 
it would not be better to let the office of th*e addressee make the receipt 
rather than the office of the sender? As it is, there are 25 to 50 per 
cent of the red cards lost or that become detached from the letter by 
the time it is delivered to the post office of the addressee, and that 
office has to make out the receipt anyhow in almost 50 per cent of the 
cases. Those little paper clips do not hold the red cards, and they 
are very easily lost. Why would not the same result obtain if the 
post office of the addressee should be required to make out the receipts, 
and, when necessary, the office of delivery should make out the red 
card ? 

Mr. Koons. I will state for your information that that question 
was very thoroughly gone into at the time the present regulations 
were established or put into effect. In the first place, by having the 
postmaster at the office of mailing make out the card it distributes 
the work, and the card follows the register. If you reverse the con¬ 
dition, just imagine the tremendous amount of registered mail that 
is dumped in on New York and Chicago and cities of that size at 
night, and they would have to go through these letters and pick out 
those that required return receipts and make out the return receipts 
for them. I think it would be almost an impossible task, and would 
also greatly delay the handling of registered mail at the office of 
address. That was thoroughly gone into at that time, and I think 
they concluded to call in superintendents of the registry divisions 
of the 50 largest cities of the United States at the time these regula¬ 
tions were worked up, and it was their opinion and, I think, the gen¬ 
eral consensus of opinion that it would be an impossible task to make 
out these receipts in the large offices in this way. Of course, if you 
want to have that voted on, I shall be glad to put the question to the 
members of the conference. 

Mr. Rucker. No; it was just merely a suggestion that I desired to 
offer. I do not care to have a vote on it. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). Mr. Chairman, as No. 6 was not 
quite unanimous, and as we have not yet passed it- 

(Cries of “ It has been passed; it was passed.”) 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). From the standpoint of the post¬ 
master, he has no right to continue the present system, but we want to 
enlarge the postal business as much as possible. 

Mr. Koons. That is the reason we abandoned the receipts. 

Mr. Myers. Exactly. I would like to hear from some of these 
business representatives as to whether the Postal Service is losing 
some business by not having these receipts. As I came to this meeting 
I met a man on the train who said he patronized the express com¬ 
panies— 



72 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). Mr. Chairman, may I rise to a point of 
order? My point is this, that renewal of the questions that are 
already passed should be brought about in a regular way at the con¬ 
clusion of the order of business upon which we are now working. 

Mr. Koons. I think that would be better, if you will pardon me, 
Mr. Myers, because some of the postmasters, I know, are anxious to 
get away. After we have gone over these various questions, we will 
be glad to come back to any one of them that you may wish to discuss 
further. 

DELIVERY OF PACKAGES AT HOTELS OR BOARDING HOUSES. 

Mr. Koons. No. 7 is the next question for discussion, “ Packages 
for delivery at hotels or boarding houses to be delivered whether ad¬ 
dressed in care of said places or not.” Who shall we hear first on 
this question? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). Mr. Chairman, we have a great deal of 
trouble about the delivery of packages to hotels, especially on Sunday 
night. In our town we have about 2,000 traveling salesmen who 
make Atlanta their headquarters, and they come into Atlanta on 
Sunday night and remain until Monday morning or late Sunday 
night. The present regulation does not let us deliver packages to 
hotels unless they are marked “ In care of.” We can not make de¬ 
livery when not so marked, and we have to send a notice to the ad¬ 
dressee. The post office is closed on Sunday, and this man can not 
get his package. 

What I think the department ought to do is to allow us to make 
delivery of these packages to a reputable hotel, thus enabling these 
people to get their packages so they can get out to their work early 
Monday morning or late Sunday night and not have to remain over 
until Monday morning in order to obtain their packages. Of course, 
I understand there are a number of hotels where this could not safely 
be done, but if it could be done at these reputable hotels, I think it 
ought to be done. 

Mr. Koons. Does this refer to ordinary packages? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). It refers to insured packages more especially. 

Mr. Koons. You had in mind only the insured parcels and not the 
registered mail? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). Not registered mail; no, sir. The situation 
is as I have just tried to explain it. There are a great many traveling 
men who come to our town, who make Atlanta their headquarters, 
and under the present arrangement, if an insured package comes to 
them, and we are unable to deliver it to them on Sunday and they 
have to remain over until Monday morning to get it from the post 
office, it causes them to lose practically a whole day’s time. Samples 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 73 

are sent them by parcel post, insured, and lots of times they have to 
stay over until Monday morning to get that package. 

Mr. Koons. Why not have them addressed, in care of the hotel ? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). I know what they ought to do. It is not 
what a man ought to do, it is what he does do that counts in this 
life. 

A Delegate. Does not the sender think to send it in care of the 
hotel? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). I do not know what the sender thinks. I 
know he addresses it “ Piedmont Hotel,” but he leaves off the words 
“ care of,” and because he leaves it off I can not deliver that package 
to the Piedmont Hotel for him. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). Mr. Chairman, I move that this plan be 
approved. 

(The motion was seconded.) 

Mr. Koons. It is moved that it is the sense of the conference that 
packages for delivery at hotels or boarding houses shall be delivered 
whether addressed in care of said places or not. I want to under¬ 
stand the thought you have in mind. In other words, if it is ad¬ 
dressed to “ Bill Smith, Piedmont Hotel,” your idea is to deliver it? 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). Yes. 

Mr. Koons. All right; I will put the motion. 

(The motion was carried.) 

ADDITIONAL PAYMENT TO CONTRACT STATIONS. 

Mr. Koons. The next question for discussion is No. 8, “Additional 
payment to contract stations.” Has anyone anything to say on this 
subject? 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma). Mr. Chairman, the Oklahoma City post 
office is unfortunate in having an itinerant postmaster, and very 
fortunate in having the best assistant postmaster in the whole coun¬ 
try. I am going to read a very short statement prepared at my sug¬ 
gestion by him, which bears particularly upon this question. This 
statement is prepared by John L. Graham, assistant postmaster at 
Oklahoma City: 

The compensation allowed clerks in charge of contract stations is not com¬ 
mensurate with the work performed. For this reason two of the stations 
located in the business section of this city have been discontinued, and a third 
would have been discontinued at the request of the clerk in charge had not 
the business concerns located near that station agreed to pay the difference be¬ 
tween the amount allowed by the Government and the amount the clerk in 
charge was willing to do the work for. The amount paid by the department to 
the clerk in charge of this station is $33.33£ per month. The business houses 
referred to are paying this clerk the difference between that amount and $75 
per month. 


74 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


It is believed that the rule which limits the payment of contract stations when 
first established to $50 per annum should be changed so as to permit the pay¬ 
ment of a larger amount for stations located in business districts; also that the 
amount allowed to stations already established should be increased sufficiently 
to permit the clerks in charge of stations to give the service that is expected of 
them- by the public. 

Of course, it is a mistake to hope to have anybody work for a com¬ 
pensation that is unquestionably inadequate, unless there is some spe¬ 
cial advantage resulting from it that inures to the benefit of a de¬ 
partment store or something of that sort which would justify them 
in making up the difference between that compensation paid by the 
Government and that to which such a clerk in charge would properly 
be entitled. I know not what the condition is in other cities, but there 
is no question but what they do not get enough pay in many places. T 
realize the department is as generous as the department can be, com¬ 
mensurate with the generosity exercised by Congress in the way of 
appropriations. I know the department is a good deal in the shape 
of many of the other governmental departments in that respect. 

Mr. Hurley (Boston). Mr. Chairman, I also offer the suggestion 
that the department adopt a more liberal policy in seeing that the 
clerks in charge receive compensation where unusual conditions ex¬ 
ist. In Boston we have 37 less contract stations to-day than we had 
two years ago. This has resulted in a real hardship to the people in 
some sections of Boston in the various postal districts. We have re¬ 
ceived very much encouragement from some of these districts dur¬ 
ing the war and I appreciate it. I think the department has set a 
standard of about 5 cents on each transaction, money order or regis¬ 
tered or insured parcel. The stamp sales do not enter into it in any 
way. There are unusual conditions. There are places where there 
is little or no competition, where the public is sorely inconvenienced. 

Coming through New York the other day I stopped at a hotel 
where they told me there is no station between Times Square station, 
at Thirty-ninth Street and Fifty-first Street; that there was a con¬ 
tract station at Forty-first Street, but they have to go from there up 
to Fifty-first Street now to register a letter or get a money order. 
That condition, I am sure, is a source of great dissatisfaction to the 
public. I appreciate the fact that the department ought to accept 
the best possible contract and get the lowest possible price commensu¬ 
rate with the proper service, but I think a hard and fast policy of 5 
or 6 cents per transaction is a little bit out of date at this time. 

Mr. Koons. I will say for the information of the members of the 
conference and to expedite matters as much as possible, that we are 
working under a hope of having a new system installed by the 30th 
of June. We have made a number of attempts in the past and have 
made quite satisfactory terms. Under the law we can not cancel a 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 75 

contract in order to increase the compensation, so the war left us in 
the position that we have these contracts on hand with greatly in¬ 
creased cost, and the clerk in charge having to bear those, but we 
could not cancel the contracts and then immediately enter into a new 
contract at an increased price with the same clerk in charge. We 
either had to continue under the old contract until June 30 or aban¬ 
don the station entirely. 

Heretofore we have pursued a very liberal policy in the establish¬ 
ment of these stations. We established these stations more frequently 
than is necessary, I believe, but the cost was low, and if the people 
wanted a station at $50 a year we were willing they should have it, 
even though we had one just a block away. It was a convenience to 
the public and apparently a convenience to these people having the 
stations. It is true there are not as many stations as there were a 
year ago, but in making the new contracts we intend to make them 
on terms that are absolutely fair to the persons with whom we make 
them. We are going to send out blanks within a few days. I have 
held up those blanks for one reason, that I wanted to get the judg¬ 
ment of those in attendance upon this conference with reference to 
this matter. 

A great many of the contract stations object to handling parcel- 
post matter, and it has been suggested by a number of postmasters 
that we establish stations that would sell stamps, issue money orders, 
and register letters, but not accept parcel-post matter for mailing. 
That would only be what you might call a limited station. My under¬ 
standing is that the drug stores are willing to take stations of that 
kind at a very nominal figure. The only objection that I can see to it, 
and I do not know that it is an objection which amounts to anything, 
is that if we establish such a station and put a sign “ Postal station,” 
the person going in there and offering a package for mailing by parcel 
post will naturally be told, “ We can not accept this package because 
th;s is only a limited station,” and, of course, it would be hard to 
convince the public why a postal station could not accept a package 
that was offered for mailing in that way. Aside from that difficulty, 
I have not heard any objection brought against it. 

I should greatly appreciate it if you gentlemen will give me your 
judgment as to the advisability of adopting some plan of that sort. So 
far as paying additional compensation, I will take care of that, and 
think it ought to be done. But on this other matter advise me as to 
your judgment with reference to the advisability of establishing what 
you might call a limited station or, in other words, contract stations 
at a nominal figure for the sale of stamps, the issuance of money orders, 
the registration of letters, and matters merely of that sort. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). We have lost about 30 substations under 
the stress of recent conditions. We have about 6 out of probably 160 


76 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


stations that do not receive parcel-post packages. I have been 
seriously considering not renewing the contracts with any of those 
six. My opinion is that it would be a mistake to withdraw the parcel- 
post privilege from the users of the substations of the post office. A 
parcel is not a pleasant thing to carry, especially in hours when per¬ 
sons are going to business and the transportation lines are crowded. 
My opinion is that one of the largest conveniences which we afford 
the public from the postal standpoint is by the receiving of parcel- 
post packages in our drug-store stations or other substations. I know 
the drug stores do not like it and would be very glad to be rid of it, 
but I am very doubtful if special parcel-post stations can be estab¬ 
lished in sufficient number to meet the needs of the public in the 
matter of taking parcels as they are now met by the regular substa¬ 
tions generally. It seems to me that in many cases to get rid of a 
parcel is more of a convenience to a citizen than to be able to buy a 
money order or register a letter, because if they have to go upon a 
trolley car in order to get rid of the parcel at some regular station 
or at some especially established station for the receipt of parcels, 
they are put to a greater inconvenience than they would be if they 
could stop at the nearest place they might happen to pass, which 
would also be a station where one could buy a money order or cash a 
money order or register a letter. 

My judgment would be that this privilege should be continued to 
the public in the substations. I do not believe material increase in 
compensation will be necessary in order to keep the substations tak¬ 
ing the parcel-post packages. At the holiday time I hardly know 
how the public would get along without such conveniences, and the 
frequent clearing of the parcel-post packages from the drug-store 
stations, while the quantity of them received in very many of them 
takes up considerable available space in the store, it is quite an 
advantage to the public, and most of those stores are willing to put 
up with the convenience in that particular season. I believe that 
compensation based to some extent upon the quantity of the parcel 
post, and continue the parcel post in such stations would be serving 
the public to better advantage than they would be served by the 
establishment of separate parcel-post stations and the withdrawing 
of that privilege generally from contract stations. 

Mr.. Jones (Atlanta). I notice, Mr. Chairman, you have another 
subject, “ Parcel-post stations.” The hour of 5.30 has arrived, and I 
suggest that this subject be consolidated with the subject of “ Parcel- 
post stations ” and the discussion continued to-morrow. 

Mr. Koons. If there is no objection, we will do that and adjourn 
at this time until to-morrow morning. 

(Thereupon, at 5.30 o’clock p. m., an adjournment was taken until 
to-morrow, Thursday, April 3, 1919, at 9.30 o’clock a. m.) 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


77 


THIRD DAY. 

Post Office Department, 

Washington, D. CApril J, 1919. 

The postal business conference was called to order at 9.30 o’clock 
a. m. by First Assistant Postmaster General John C. Koons. 

CONSERVATION OF POSTAGE-STAMP SUPPLIES. 

Mr. Dockery. Mr. Chairman, as we all know, the deficiency bill 
failed of passage by Congress for reasons not now necessary to state. 
That bill carried, among other things, an appropriation of $400,000 
for the manufacture of postage stamps. My chief clerk, Mr. Bar- 
rows, is here, and I shall be very glad if you will give him a few 
moments to explain to the postmasters the absolute necessity of con¬ 
serving the stamp supply, so far as it is possible for them to do so. 

Mr. Barrows. This will undoubtedly be of interest to you, gen¬ 
tlemen, because you are from the larger cities and may be called upon 
to help those from the smaller places. 

On hand in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing at this time 
are about 1,200,000,000 two-cent stamps. That is approximately a 
two months’ supply. There are no more 2-cent stamps in sight until 
more money is supplied by Congress. The Director of the Bureau 
can put off payment of contractors for material, but he can not put 
off paying labor, and he will shortly be out of money at the bureau 
available for this purpose. We failed, as Gov. Dockery has just 
stated, to secure our appropriation, so we can not pay for the stamps 
even if the bureau was in a position to furnish them. Conse¬ 
quently some of your requisitions will undoubtedly be decreased. 
You who have a large supply of 2-cent stamps on hand may be^ 
asked to transfer some of them to your neighbors, so do not get cross 
with us when we ask that. We will probably have to spread the 
2-cent stamp supply out pretty thin between now and the 1st of 
July. That is about all there is to that situation. We have plenty 
of 1-cent stamps to run us for three months. 

Mr. Koons. Some of the postmasters present told me last night 
they want to leave this afternoon and have requested that when we 
start this morning we try to complete our conference before we ad¬ 
journ. So we will push right along as rapidly as we can. The topic 
we had under discussion yesterday when we adjourned was addi¬ 
tional payment to contract stations and the establishment of dis¬ 
tinct parcel-post stations. I shall be pleased to hear from anyone 
here interested in those two subjects. 


78 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


ADDITIONAL PAY TO CONTRACT STATIONS-ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTINCT 

PARCEL-POST STATIONS. 

Mr. Springsteen (Indianapolis). Mr. Chairman, I do not believe 
that the parcel-post stations separately established would be a prac¬ 
tical proposition, because the drug stores who carry those stations 
would get themselves in a lot of trouble, and I believe in the end 
they would ask to be given the whole service. I do not care to say 
anything further on that subject, but if I may add to this contract 
station a request, I should like to do that. 

It is the request that a special class of contract stations be created, 
to be known as contract carrier stations, the compensation to clerks 
in charge not to exceed $2,000 per annum. I suppose that is a matter 
of law. We have seven contract stations in Indianapolis. We get 
good service, good supervision, and if they would be made regular 
stations it would cost the department from $3,000 to $4,000 for each 
one of them per year; but we do not get compensation enough at 
$1,000 to take care of those stations, and some of them will be with¬ 
drawn unless additional compensation is given to the clerks in 
charge. 

Mr. Koons. How many carriers have 3m u at those stations? 

Mr. Springsteen. The largest number we have at any one station 
is 14. We have 2 rural carriers and 12 city carriers. The lowest 
number we have, I believe, is 6. We have one station with 6 car¬ 
riers, 2 rural carriers and 4 city carriers, where the man in charge 
is paying $1,000 to his clerk and giving the rent free and furnish¬ 
ing the equipment, because he is a patriotic man and wants to keep 
the station in his neighborhood. 

Mr. Koons. I should like to hear from some other of the post¬ 
masters on the last question brought up by Mr. Springsteen. Our 
policy in connection with these stations I think is well known. Of 
course, a thousand dollars is the maximum salary that we pay the 
clerk in charge. I am under the impression that to pay the clerk 
in charge more than a thousand dollars would require some legisla¬ 
tion. That is according to my best recollection of the situation. Of 
course, we reach a point where the contract service leaves off and our 
own service begins. We never have looked at it entirely from the 
dollar and cent point, because we could go on and lease out the larger 
stations by contract. There are a number of instances where the 
contract station is desirable, and I fully realize that a thousand 
dollars is not adequate compensation there. Of course, the main 
thing is whether you get proper supervision. It all depends on the 
clerk in charge. I have no views one way or the other, and should be 
glad to have the views of some of these postmasters on this question. 

Mr. Loudenslager (Atlantic City). Mr. Chairman, we did have at 
Atlantic City 18 contract stations with the drug stores and a few other 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


79 


stores which we could get only in certain neighborhoods. At one time 
when I came into office we were supplying four of those principal 
stations in drug stores with a clerk three months in the summer. 
Last year when I sent in my requisition and designated those four 
clerks I was deprived of them. The consequence is I have lost two 
very valuable stations, because it took so much time and was more 
expense to those stores to put a clerk there than they received for 
the rental. 

I do not want a station if they can not take parcel-post packages, 
because that is the principal source. On the boardwalk I have only 
one station. The boardwalk is our principal and only thing for 
Atlantic City, and most of you know that. They get $600 rental. 
They threatened to give it up last summer because they did not 
have that extra clerk. They said they could not take care of it. 

Mr. Joe P. Johnston. There will be more room down there after 
the 1st of July! 

Mr. Loudenslager. No, my dear sir; there will be less room. I 
had one station at a large hotel, the Breakers, but they gave theirs up. 
I have five vacant stations, and I am threatened with others. It is 
not a question of rental so much as it is ability to take care of that 
business. At one candy store I am now getting 12 sacks of candy 
for the parcel post. That I send a wagon after to get it. I have two 
more candy stores that send 12 or 15 sacks a day, but they send their 
sacks of candy to me by their own automobiles. 

So you see, gentlemen, what I am up against. I am about to try 
to make a contract with another man who has a little cigar store in 
the Breakers, a little stand which is very expensive to him. He said, 
“ I will sell stamps and write your money orders and take care of your 
registered letters, but I can not take parcel post.” I said, “ I do not 
want you then.” I want some one to handle the parcel post, because 
it is increasing so fast, gentlemen, and that, I think, is what you all 
have to look to. So, if by any means, the department can give me 
a clerk and those certain prominent stations, I shall feel better, I will 
sleep better over the proposition. 

As I said before, it is not the rental so much. The highest rental 
we pay is $600. The first year we give them only $100, to see what 
they can do, and it breaks right down from that point, and that is 
our position—the lack of help in the summer time, when everything 
is in a rush, and we do a year’s business, you may say, in three months. 

Mr, Chance (Washington, D. C.). Mr. Chairman, we find in 
Washington if we could have a number of limited parcel post sta¬ 
tions it would supply our wants; that is, where there would be a 
limited service for writing money orders and selling stamps in drug 
stores. All our drug stores have given it up on account of the parcel 


80 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


post. We had over 80 stations before the war, but we have 23 now— 
that is, of the contract stations. The drug stores object to handling 
hams and automobile tires and things like that. If we could have 
a number of limited stations, or, if you can not do that, if you could 
raise the limit to $2,000, we would get a cheaper and better service 
than we are getting now, and we would be able to open some of those 
necessary stations which were closed because of the reasons I have 
stated. 

Mr. C. E. Hogadone (Grand Rapids). Mr. Chairman, my expe¬ 
rience teaches me that if we were to make a classification of these sta¬ 
tions, as is suggested by this subject, it will cause a great deal of 
confusion among our patrons. Patrons will go to a little station and 
expect to have the same service that they get at a regular contract 
station, and be disappointed if they do not get it and go away mad. 
My opinion is we will meet this situation better by increasing the 
compensation, so as to make it possible for our contract stations to 
handle parcel post without such a great loss to themselves. Most of 
them have sufficient room to handle what comes to them in their local¬ 
ities. If they are serving too much territory and the business of the 
station shows that such is the case, another, station should be located 
in that vicinity to take care of or assist in taking care of the work 
there. I think it would be a mistake to create two classes of sta¬ 
tions, but it would be better to increase the compensation and make 
it so that one class of stations can transact all the business. From a 
further standpoint also it is a question of increased collection cost 
if too many contract stations for the collection of parcel post were 
established. 

Mr. Koons. I should like to ask this question. We are perfectly 
willing to increase compensation, but, as I said yesterday, a number 
of these stations are established under the old practice where they 
would take them for $50, and we established them almost any place, 
often within a square of each other, because it was an accommoda¬ 
tion to the business people and the cost was so slight that we had no 
objection to establishing them in that way. What would you think 
of increasing the compensation, but handling these contract sta¬ 
tions in the same manner we were handling the classified stations; 
that is, survey your city, and put them in the places where they 
would reach the most people and do the most good, and not estab¬ 
lish them as we do now, within a block or two of each other and then 
again none for six or seven or eight blocks. What is your impres¬ 
sion about that? 

Mr. Hogadone (Grand Rapids). I think that should be done. I 
think there should be an effort made to locate these stations where 
they would afford the greatest convenience to the patrons, and they 
should not be at too great distances apart, especially in the congested 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


81 


portions of the city. They should be close enough together so they 
would be of some relief to each other. I find in the more congested 
portions of my city the stations are overworked, entirely overworked. 
I have lost some stations, splendid stations, on account of that situa¬ 
tion. They simply had to not only pay out all the appropriation al¬ 
lowed them, but an additional amount equal to it, in order to maintain 
the service at those stations, and they could not stand it. In the 
business sections down town it is a difficult problem. I have some¬ 
times thought it would be perhaps wise for the department to supply 
clerks at those large stations. I believe it would be a matter of 
economy. If that business were all thrown upon us at the main 
office, it would create such a congestion we would not be able to 
handle it efficiently, and it would require additional help at the main 
office; but in the residence section, the outlying section, stations 
ordinarily within four or five blocks or possibly a radius of six 
blocks in the same localities would answer all purposes. 

Mr. Koons. The thing I had in mind, instead of establishing, say, 
four stations within a small radius at $250 apiece, was to establish 
one station in the center of that territory, centrally located in the 
territory, at a thousand dollars. That would pay the one clerk in 
charge more money and still w T ould inconvenience the public very 
little. 

Mr. Purdy (Minneapolis). Right along that line, Mr. Chairman, 
a short time ago I conducted a survey in Minneapolis with that 
very thing in view, as to redistricting the city; but I had in mind 
classified stations and abolishing the contract stations. There is a 
sort of psychological influence there. These outlying districts that 
are partially business and thickly settled with residences get the 
idea that they have a classified station, that they have a real post 
office; and any contract station you might establish there, no 
matter what the compensation might be, would not have the effect 
on the public of a classified station. In this survey of ours I figured 
out with the establishment of about six classified stations we would 
do away with about 15 contract stations, and the expense of keep¬ 
ing those up would be very little in addition to the present contract 
stations. I am strong for the classified station. The department has 
permitted us to put in two out there, and we hope to have more. 
We have them open from 9 to 5, with one shift, and one only, and 
they are rendering splendid service. 

Mr. Hogadone (Grand Rapids). In connection with that matter, 
are those classified stations placed in a store or are they placed in an 
entirely separate building? 

Mr. Purdy (Minneapolis). Entirely separate. 

Mr. Hogadone (Grand Rapids). It occurred to me, Mr. Chairman, 
that the classified stations might be placed—in fact, business men in 
113522—19-6 


82 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


the city of Grand Rapids' have assured me that they would be willing 
to furnish rent-free space in their store if we would furnish a 
clerk to run it; so that would eliminate the question of rent. 

Mr. Koons. That is a department-store station? 

Mr. Hogadone (Grand Rapids). Yes. There is another reason 
why that would be advantageous in the handling of parcel post. 
We have a great deal of difficulty with our contract clerks at the 
present time in properly inspecting parcels and seeing that they are 
properly wrapped, and that everything is in accordance with the 
rules and regulations. We have to hammer them constantly, and, 
of course, they do not exactly like that, because they are only get¬ 
ting a very small compensation for what they are doing. By putting 
in the other stations we receive a larger amount of parcel post, and 
with classified employees it would be attended to in a much better 
manner than at the present time. 

Mr. R. B. Smyer (Birmingham). Mr. Chairman, the gentleman 
spoke of raising the contract rate on certain stations. I am under the 
impression, and have been, that as a matter of statute that thousand 
dollars is the limit on contract stations. Am I correct ? 

Mr. Koons. It is the limit by inference; that is all. That is my 
recollection of it. We have always taken that position. I do not 
think there is a direct statute on it, but it is by inference. 

Mr. Joe P. Johnston (Kansas City). It is a good rule, anyhow. 

Mr. Koons. I think in one statute they said no contracts could 
exceed $1,000, and while it has not been repeated in subsequent 
acts, we have followed that. 

Mr. Smyer (Birmingham). I have a contract station where there 
are three carriers, and the clerk in charge there has been offered a 
proposition to occupy a little building, occupied and owned by her 
for a business purpose, and she asks to give it up. I do not want her 
to do it, and she asked me what about raising the pay and I told her 
it was prohibited by statute. 

Mr. Koons. We have taken that position. 

Mr. Jones. Mr. Chairman, we have in our town of Atlanta some¬ 
thing like 600 manufacturing plants, and they are scattered. It 
would be very unfortunate if we should have stations that would not 
take parcel post. I think our stations all ought to take parcel post, 
and they do now. We had trouble with them during the war be¬ 
cause of the scarcity of labor, but that trouble is now being elimi¬ 
nated. I believe within 12 months the situation, so far as that is 
concerned, will get back to normal. I should hate to see any station 
established in my town that would not be allowed to take parcel 
post. 

Mr. Schutz. The postmaster of Grand Rapids has remarked that 
there are two classes of contract stations. That is, there are two 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


83 


classes of people who take those stations. There is one class who 
take the stations for the business that the station brings to the 
place, and the other class take the station for the money that there is 
in it. It strikes me that a happy compromise might be made. I 
believe that in every city, as in Milwaukee, there are community 
centers, where a large number of people congregate for business in 
certain sections, and I believe that in each of those community cen¬ 
ters there ought to be a classified station, a branch station for the 
transaction of general post-office business with the exception of 
carrier service. That would serve a large population and would 
satisfy that community. At the same time I do not think it would 
entirely satisfy the people, because those who have been accustomed 
to a post-office service within a radius of two or three or four blocks, 
if they have to walk half a mile or a mile for their post-office service 
they will see the difference. I believe that a compromise on the 
whole proposition might be made by establishing these classified sta¬ 
tions in those community centers where large business is transacted, 
and eke out with contract stations under the present plan. 

Mr. Koons. I will say for the information of postmasters that we 
have been making some experiments. Mr. Jones speaks of parcels 
from large business houses. Of course, during the war it was almost 
impossible to get trucks. If we secure the number of trucks from the 
Army that we hope to secure, we hope to make arrangements to collect 
parcels at least once a day from some of the large business houses such 
as Mr. Jones mentions. 

Another experiment that we have tried is in the business sections of 
the city where there is a large amount of parcel post to be mailed and 
it is some inconvenience to bring them to the post office we establish a 
parcel-post station that is simply a receiving point for parcel post. 
The only furniture we put in is a counter and a distributing rack to 
make the primary separations. We have been experimenting with 
that in Baltimore, and it has worked out most satisfactorily. Now, I 
think a station of that kind serves a useful purpose in some places. 

Of course, when you get out into the residence section there are little 
community centers. I have one in mind up on Fourteenth Street in 
Washington, on the heights, where there is almost a city in itself. A 
district like that requires a classified station, in my judgment. When 
you get into a purely residential section, I think a contract station 
serves the purpose. 

Now, the impression I had on this subject was that this is more a 
local proposition than anything else, depending on the conditions that 
exist in a city. In my judgment it is a question whether we could lay 
down a hard-and-fast rule to cover all cases. I think it is a question 
we should deal with in each city as a local proposition, to make the 
station meet the local wants. 


84 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


I fully agree that these contract stations are poorly paid—that is, 
in war time. There is no question about that; but I think if we estab¬ 
lish them in the same manner that we lay out the classified stations— 
that is, with a certain territory for them to serve, locating your sta¬ 
tion to the best advantage—we should establish fewer stations and 
give better service and better compensation. I am willing then to 
establish whatever stations you need. 

Now, if it is satisfactory to the conference—I have held back our 
letters of instruction on these stations until after we had this confer¬ 
ence—if it is satisfactory to you gentlemen, we will cover this matter 
fully in the instructions that we send out on these stations, and we will 
deal with each station as a local proposition and will leave it to the 
judgment of the local postmaster. If that is satisfactory, why, we 
will pass this. If it is not satisfactory, I should like to have sugges¬ 
tions. 

That disposes of Nos. 8 and 10. 

No. 9. Special-delivery packages to be marked by tag or by large 
stamp, so as to identify them without close observation. 

I should be glad to hear from some gentleman on that. 

Mr. Jones. Since the express companies have got in such bad odor 
our business houses have been using the parcel post for a great many 
large packages that they did not formerly use it for. Most of our 
tailors get their goods by parcel post. Almost all of our milli¬ 
nery people get their goods by parcel post, and most of the packages 
come with special-delivery stamps on them. I do not know why they 
put them on, because we get them by the dray load. We have plenty 
of houses that get a whole dray load. 

Mr. Johnston. They want the receipt. 

Mr. Jones. I suppose they want the receipt. It takes the clerk 
a good deal of time, and sometimes he will pass those packages to 
the ordinary parcel-post delivery. Then we get a kick. I thought 
it might be a good thing if we could have some tag or some large 
stamp or something to stick on the box so that it would be easier 
for the clerk to see it and locate it, and perhaps it would save time 
for the clerk and also save the package getting into the ordinary 
mail and so prevent the man who gets it from making a complaint. 

Mr. Rosenberg. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in connection with 
the idea of the special stamp on parcel-post mail or special-delivery 
letters to call particular attention to the fact that it is special de¬ 
livery, I have thought of a stamp of irregular shape—that is, a 
shape different from the ordinary oblong stamp that we now have. 
It occurred to me that probably a triangular stamp in the shape of 
a pennant might be a good idea. I have just made a little diagram 
here which shows how a sheet of stamps could be printed and per¬ 
forated, the stamps in pennant form, without wasting any of the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


85 


paper. That stamp could be large enough to designate United 
States mail, and in very large words the word “Special” and the 
word “ Delivery ” in smaller letters. I think a stamp of that kind, 
placed to the left of the ordinary stamps, would immediately, on 
account of its shape and being to the left of the other stamps, call 
attention to the fact that it was special delivery. I submit that as a 
suggestion for the consideration of this body. 

Mr. Hogadone. Mr. Chairman, special-delivery stamps are not 
always used on special-delivery mail, especially upon package mail. 
Frequently we have ordinary stamps used and the word “Special” 
written. It seems to me that in order to call special attention to 
the fact, particularly on package mail, that it is special delivery a 
large label might be pasted or stamped on the package by the 
department when it is received showing that it is special delivery, 
clearly and plainly. If Ave have a special stamp, it will not be used 
any more than the special stamps that we noAv haA^e. The special- 
delivery stamp shows plainly on letters, but it is with parcels that 
we have the trouble, so I should think that a label would answer the 
purpose; and such a label generally used would eliminate a lot of 
trouble that we are having at the present time. 

Mr. Koons. Do you think a label would be preferable to a stamp 
as a means of that kind ? 

Mr. Hogadone. I think it would attract more attention than a 
rubber stamp would, such as w r e use noAv for insurance and C. O. D. 
It is different. 

Mr. Loudenslager. I think a label would be better than a stamp, 
because packages are irregular in shape, and Avith a fragile package 
or box there is danger either of injuring the contents of the package 
with the rubber stamp or else not have the stamp plain enough so 
that it will clearly show. The label would cover that whole propo¬ 
sition without the extra pounding that the package gets from the 
rubber stamp. I am speaking now of the smaller packages. 

Mr. Springsteen. I move that the recommendation be concurred 
in by this body and that it be referred to the proper committee. 

(The motion was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Koons. No. 11, the returning of nixie mail matter without 
first sending notice on Form 3540; also that the use of Form 3578 
be discontinued. 

Mr. Rosenberg. I did not suggest the subject of the discontinuance 
of Form 3540, but I did suggest the discontinuance of Form 3578. 
That form is sent to publishers after not less than two copies of a 
publication have been receded without delivery, Avhich means that 
in the case of a Aveekly publication the publisher is not notified until 
approximately three Aveeks after the mail has been sent out. Also, I 
find that a great many cases occur wherein either the postmaster neg- 


86 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


lects to send that return-card notice, or it is lost in transit between 
the post office and the office of the publisher. I have had a great 
many complaints also that these cards, on being returned to the 
publishers, are practically useless when they do arrive, because they 
are simply carbon copies of the original card notice. The carbon 
paper in post offices seems to be used for months, until it is completely 
worn out. Some of the writing is so illegible that it looks like noth¬ 
ing but a smudge or a scrawl. You can not read it, even with a 
magnifying glass, and a great deal of correspondence is occasioned 
to ascertain from the Post Office Department just what information 
they had intended to convey to the publisher in sending the notice. 

Now, my idea was that the filling out of these cards, etc., is labor 
which takes time, and the cost of the cards must be considered, 
because there must be thousands of them used. My idea was to do 
away entirely with the cards and to return the publication to the 
publisher when it is received at the post office without an address, 
or with an illegible address, or without an address at which it can be 
delivered. If the addressee has removed from the delivery of that 
post office, that fact should be stamped or noticed in some way on 
the wrapper of the publication, the publisher being under the obli¬ 
gation, however, and the promise that the return postage will be paid 
at the third-class rate. 

I make that as a suggestion, thinking that it is manifest^ in the 
interest of the Postal Service, and I am sure it will be something 
that will be very much appreciated by the legitimate publishers. 

It will also have a very salutary effect on what I might term the 
illegitimate publishers. I mean those publishers who have not a 
legitimate list of subscribers and who buy names. There is no pub¬ 
lisher living who will ever admit that he does such a thing, but I 
know it has been done. It will have a salutary effect on that fellow 
if all this matter that is undeliverable is promptly returned to him 
and he is asked to pay postage at the third-class rate. 

That is all I have to say, gentlemen. I hope you will consider this 
matter and vote according to your judgment on it. 

Mr. Koons. Will you file with the committee a memorandum set¬ 
ting out this point ? 

Mr. Rosenberg. Yes. 

Mr. Barrows. Mr. Chairman, as this is a matter that requires a 
change in the law, it is necessary that it be brought to the attention 
of the bureau in regular form. You might get the sense of the post¬ 
masters on it, but it requires a change of law. 

Mr. Koons. Mr. Rosenberg has filed it in regular form, and it will 
be brought to the attention of the Third Assistant’s bureau. 

Mr. Costello. Mr. Chairman, I believe I recommended this change 
in the forwarding of second-class and fourth-class matter, the postage 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


87 


to be collected on delivery. Besides saving of labor it would expedite 
the delivery. This is especially true in the summer season, when 
temporary orders are in force. It is now done on short paid first class 
2-cent letters. My reason for making this suggestion is that condi¬ 
tions in a great many of your offices are similar to mine. I have about 
three men working constantly on this second, third, and fourth class 
matter. In the summer season a man will leave an order to have all 
mail forwarded to Atlantic City or some one of the beaches. Some 
of the patrons of my office leave a deposit there. Occasionally, if I am 
acquainted with a man and he neglects to leave a deposit, I make one 
myself to eliminate all that trouble and then collect from him per¬ 
sonally afterwards. Now, if this second-class and fourth-class matter 
was forwarded and collected for at the other end, I think it would 
save a number of complaints, both from the publishers and from 
the different concerns who send out this matter, and also from the 
addressees. I think the Government would save money. 

In regard to this other form of notifying the publishers that the 
addressees can not be found and that the mail can not be delivered, I 
think that is a question we ought to consider. It is true that a number 
of publishers purchase lists of names from concerns that make a busi¬ 
ness of selling names, and they swamp your office at times with these 
magazines and papers, and the result is that it puts additional work 
upon the post office. I think there* ought to be some method of han¬ 
dling this mail matter from these publishers, and I should like to hear 
the different postmasters talk on this question. 

Mr. Burton. Mr. Chairman, I should like to inquire what provi¬ 
sion would be made under the arrangement suggested by the first 
speaker for keeping a record of publications that were refused and 
sent back if you did away with Form 3540? We have occasion con¬ 
stantly to refer to our record that publications have been refused or 
that the publisher has been notified. If you adopt this method, what 
would you do to supply that record? 

Mr. Kosenberg. I might answer that in this way, Mr. Chairman: 
There is nothing to prevent the postmaster from keeping a record in 
his own office. I am speaking of the duplicate record—that is, the 
carbon copy of your original record that now goes to the publisher. 
I might say that in the vast majority of cases it is absolutely useless 
information, because it is almost impossible to decipher what is on 
that card. It is almost impossible for anybody to decipher it. I 
have succeeded in deciphering a great many because there is prob¬ 
ably just some part of an address that is more legible than the other, 
and I come pretty nearly making a good guess at it; but the ordinary 
layman would not be able to decipher one-tenth of the cards that he 
gets. 


88 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


I spend a great deal of time every day in looking over these return 
cards that are submitted to me, returning them to the publishers with 
what I consider is the correct information furnished; but I say that 
ordinarily—and I am not representing all the publishers in the coun¬ 
try—I think it would be a saving of time and a saving of temper and, 
on the other hand, it would help to cure a great many of the ills 
from which the Post Office Department is suffering by illegitimate 
jmblishers sending out their matter promiscuously from lists that 
they buy. 

I had occasion some years ago to correct a mailing list of a certain 
concern. It was not a publisher in this case, but a private concern 
that wished to mail a lot of circular mail, and they had obtained this 
list from some publishing concern; probably paid for the use of it, or 
perhaps bought it outright; I do not know which. In looking over 
this galley list of names I discovered any number of post offices that 
had been discontinued for 20 years or more. That will give you 
some idea of the age of that list. Just imagine what happens when 
a lot of this junk gets into the mails and clutters up a post office, 
causing an endless amount of work to the post office, and is of abso¬ 
lutely no value to the sender of the stuff, because when the return 
card comes in it is so illegible he can not read it and consequently 
can not make any further use of that mailed matter. I am one of 
those people who believe in little work, but in making that little 
work count. I think there is a whole lot of useless work put on 
people all over the world, work that does not count and does not 
amount to a “ tinker’s dam,” which is about as strong language as I 
ever use. 

Mr. F. B. Schutz (Milwaukee). Mr. Chairman, the subject under 
discussion really covers two topics. I rather concur with the state¬ 
ment made by the gentleman from New York from an experience 
growing out of a little difficulty we had with a publisher. He re¬ 
quested that we notify him on the card form, and we had reports 
probably on as many as 340 or 350 of these “ Defused ” or u Change 
of address ” or “ Unable to find.” He wanted them all reported on 
a card notice. Our practice has been and is to make a carbon list, 
which we did in this case, and which he refused, and submitted the 
case to the Third Assistant Postmaster General. 

Going now to the other topic, about forwarding second, third, or 
fourth class matter to the addressee at the forwarding address, 
instead of waiting for postage, I fully concur in the remarks made by 
the other gentlemen. It frequently happens we have a package to be 
forw.arcled, and notice is sent to the addressee at a certain place to 
remit postage and we will forward the package. By the time that 
postage is received the addressee moves to another place, which is 
in another zone, and the address that he gives, being in another zone, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


89 


postage that he sends is not sufficient to forward the package, and this 
causes a great deal of confusion and annoyance. I think that the 
service would perhaps be better by forwarding directly to the ad¬ 
dressee and having collection made at place of delivery. 

Mr. Eosenberg. That is all very well, but it does not give the 
publisher- 

Mr. Shutz (interrupting). I am not talking of the case of the 
publisher. That is another matter. I understand we are discussing 
this matter under two topics, one in the matter of forwarding second- 
class matter, which is entirely different from the handling of third 
and fourth class matter. I move, Mr. Chairman, that this matter 
be referred to the proper bureau for consideration and action. 

Mr. Hogadone. I second the motion. 

(The motion was carried.) 

UNIFORM METHOD OF PRECANCELING STAMPS. 

Mr. Koons. Topic No. 12, “A uniform method of precanceling 
stamps, standardizing the style. It is suggested that stamps be pre¬ 
canceled at printing offices owned by the Post Office Department.” 

Mr. Dockery. Mr. Chairman, I ask the privilege to have Chief 
Clerk Barrows, of my bureau, make a statement in respect to that 
suggestion. 

Mr. Barrows. Gentlemen, the law provides, as you all know, that 
stamps can only be canceled, with one exception, at the office where 
mailed. That one exception is where the letter is mailed and inad¬ 
vertently the stamp is not canceled and it goes through; then the office 
of receipt may cancel and notify the Third Assistant Postmaster 
General of the delinquency. 

On May 18, 1916, the department secured an amendment to the 
law which provides that the Postmaster General may authorize the 
printing of precanceled stamps and supplying them on requisition 
as other stamps are supplied. That was prior to the war. The 
experiment was taken up by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
for two or three of the larger offices, and it was being carried on when 
the first issue of liberty bonds came along, and of course everything 
in the bureau was made secondary to that. We hope within a short 
time again to renew those experiments and see whether precanceling 
can be done economically; if so, we expect to supply precanceled 
stamps, at least in large quantities, in the regular way and on regular 
requisitions. This can not be done, however, in coils. Nothing has 
been done with reference to supplying precanceled stamps in coils. A 
mechanician has been at work for several years on this problem—one 
of the most expert mechanics in the United States, and has spent 
many, many hours, without success thus far. We can not say any- 



90 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFEPvENCE. 


thing definite on the coil question, but in the near future, when the 
liberty loan gets out of the way, we expect to have the precanceled 
stamp proposition on such a basis that we can supply them on requi¬ 
sitions in large quantities to offices as we now do ordinary stamps. We 
do not know when, but we hope soon. 

Mr. Koons. Does any postmaster have anything further to say on 
this subject? 

Mr. Schutz (Milwaukee). Mr. Chairman, I move that the matter 
be referred to the proper bureau for action; that bureau being that 
of the Third Assistant Postmaster General. 

(The motion was carried.) 

HANDLING FRAGILE PARCELS. 

[ 

Mr. Koons. Topic No. 13 suggested for our consideration is “An 
improved method of handling fragile, perishable, and special de¬ 
livery parcels.” 

I think the special delivery feature we have possibly covered. 
This is a subject in which I am very much interested, and I shall be 
pleased if you will give me your suggestions briefly as to the methods 
you have in mind by which we can improve the handling of these 
parcels. I should like to hear from some postmaster or from sev¬ 
eral of you just what your ideas would be in connection with this 
subject. 

Mr. Joe P. Johnston. Would it not be a good idea to have the 
gentleman who suggested that discuss it? 

Mr. Dockery. It was Gov. Plaisted, the postmaster from Augusta, 
Me., who suggested it. He will not be here for some little time yet, 
and I would suggest in the meantime someone else discuss it. 

Mr. Schutz (Milwaukee). Mr. Chairman, there are classes of mer¬ 
chandise that are fragile, such as millinery, hats, and wire material, 
that may be crushed, and brittle merchandise such as glassware and 
crockery, which I believe could be handled by segregating it—segre¬ 
gating the light and flimsy material or merchandise and packing 
that in hampers rather than in sacks, and also that the brittle ware 
like crockery and glassware be packed in hampers or boxes. I do 
not believe the handling of that class of merchandise in sacks is 
practicable. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). Mr. Chairman, it has almost seemed to 
me that the sacks containing a fragile package tagged are usually 
on the bottom of the truck. I have talked with my people from time 
to time as to whether or not it would be practicable to have some 
distinctive kind of sack for special delivery, fragile packages, or 
perishable packages, and perhaps C. O. D., from which the tag very 
often becomes detached and which sometimes is delivered as an ordi¬ 
nary package. I have been told that experience in the post office has 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


91 


demonstrated that it was impossible, or practically so, to have the 
distinctive sack confined to the use or uses for which it was designed. 
It never seemed to me that that was a legitimate reason, for not 
adopting a distinctive sack if it is going to protect or facilitate the 
delivery or expedite the dispatch of these classes of packages. I 
believe that along that line, with proper effort made to secure the 
observations of the specific uses, if such sacks were designed, it might 
help us all. I believe the fragile package should have a distinctive 
label pasted on it, getting a distinctive label of a color which would 
be noticeable. 

Something has been said about the illegibility of duplicate notices 
sent to publishers. I do not think there is more illegibility evidenced 
anywhere than in the use of a “ fragile ” rubber stamp on fragile 
packages. It is about as faint and indistinct, as a rule, as any stamp 
mark I have ever seen passing through the post office. I believe that 
along those lines improvement in the handling of these classes of 
articles might be secured. 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma). I remember some time ago there was 
seen in Oklahoma City post office a sack of peculiar design that came 
from the Dominion of Canada. It was a red sack, red in color. I 
suppose that was meant as a danger signal. Then the word “ fragile ” 
was written in very large letters upon it. We are a long ways from the 
line of the Dominion of Canada, and probably other postmasters have 
seen many more of these than I have, but I remember that one in par¬ 
ticular, and I wrote to the department with regard to it, calling 
attention to it. 

Mr. Jones (Atlanta). I want to add to the packages that are 
designated as fragile the statement that in our office flowers are sent 
in great quantities. We not only get them in great quantities, but we 
send them in great quantities. Hundreds and hundreds of packages 
daily of flowers go from Atlanta. The idea of a different sack, I 
think, would be a wonderful thing if it could be perfected; also for 
candies. You gentlemen know that if you put candy close to a steam 
pipe the chocolate will melt and run off and that candy is ruined. A 
great many packages of candy are ruined in that way. If we had a 
different sack, you could put all packages of candy in that particular 
sack, and I am sure that the Railway Mail Service would not put 
those sacks up against the hot pipes in the cars, and I am sure that 
they would in that way be protected. 

I very much hope that the department can find some solution of 
that proposition on the idea of a different sack. I think that would 
be a very great benefit, lam sure it would be of benefit in the many 
things that now the clerk does not know what is in the sack, and he 
will do the best he can, but it gets up close to a steam pipe and the 
flowers in there will be ruined, the chocolate in there will be ruined, 


92 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


and many other things for the same reason will be ruined, whereas if 
we had this particular sack they would know those things would be 
ruined if placed there, and they would place them somewhere else. 

Mr. Burgher (Dallas). There is just one matter that I wanted to 
mention. Last year there were thousands of packages which came 
through my office containing plants, such as cabbage and potato 
plants, etc., with the labels off. The labels had been put on top of 
the basket or box with paste, and the plants packed in moss which 
was wet, and so the labels had come off and been lost. No doubt the 
packages were all insured, but it became a great annoyance and worry 
to handle these packages of plants. Now, if those packages were 
always tagged so that the water and the dampness would not remove 
the tags it would save the post office quite a good deal of trouble. 

Mr. Clore. I hope the gentleman had a good garden last year, if 
those plants could not be delivered. [Laughter.] We carry incubator 
chicks outside of sacks. We carry films outside of sacks. We carry 
a great many things out of sacks which can not be packed in them, 
but we pack fragile boxes and packages of all kinds in sacks, and 
those sacks are thrown and crushed and a great many packages are 
destroyed. I think the time is coming when everything that we now 
pack in sacks will be placed in hampers, which can be stacked one on 
top of another. They will not be thrown as the sacks are thrown 
from trucks, down chutes, or off onto sidewalks or the streets, dam¬ 
aging packages as they are now damaged. I believe not only fragile 
packages should be packed in hampers, but that all parcel-post mail 
should eventually be carried in that way, and I think the department 
ought to look forward to the day when that will be done. The 
hampers can be made so that they will fit into the cars and can be 
stacked one above the other. 

Then the parcel-post matter will be handled with a great deal more 
care. A number of our merchants in cities would use the parcel post 
for the delivery of packages to their customers, if they could be 
taken directly to the customer, in the form in which they send them 
now on their delivery trucks; but if they must come to the post office 
and be put into sacks, and those sacks be thrown into street cars or 
trucks, and hauled to reloading stations and thrown out, and dis¬ 
tributed and then hauled to destination, by the time the lady’s hat 
box gets home the hat is crushed or the suit is damaged, and the 
merchant continues his independent delivery from his store by his 
own trucks instead of by way of the post office. 

Mr. Rosenberg. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my postal experi¬ 
ence, if I may call it such, extending over a period of years, has 
brought me into very close touch with the large mail-order concerns 
and large shippers of parcel-post mail, especially m New York City 
and Brooklyn. At the outset, when the parcel post was inaugurated, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


93 


I noticed that there was cause for a great deal of complaint on the 
part of mail-order concerns and department stores, because hat boxes 
were placed in mail bags. You may remember that at that time the 
papers ran a series of jokes about ladies with wide hats trying to get 
into elevators, and so forth. Once when 1 asked a department store 
manager to place his hat boxes in mail bags, he said, “ Come up with 
me and we will see how that thing works.” They had two men hold¬ 
ing a sack open and the third one was trying to put a hat box in the 
sack. It took exactly 10 minutes for those three men, and I won¬ 
dered how the clerks at the post office were going to get the hat box 
out of the sack unless they simply crushed it. 

A great many different articles are placed in mail sacks. Some of 
them are light and flimsy, and others are heavy. When the parcel 
post was first inaugurated the suggestion was made that a hamper 
be used to transport this mail and to safeguard it, and that the 
hampers be made so that they would nest, so that after a car got its 
load of hampers, just as soon as they were emptied they could be 
nested and not take up too much room; but probably the department 
had good reason for not using hampers to transport that class of 
mail. 

The suggestion has been made here that a distinctive sack be used, 
meaning perhaps a sack of a certain color or w T ith certain designa¬ 
tions on it, printed or stamped. Now, a sack of any kind does not 
really serve the purpose as admirably as it might, because nobody 
knows what is in that sack. He does not know whether the sack con¬ 
tains candy from Mr. Loudenslager’s beautiful town of Atlantic City 
by the sea or whether he is bringing eggs from some other place, or 
copies of Comfort from Maine, or some other thing in that sack, 
and he handles it just the same as if it had a lot of pig iron in it. 
Now, I make this suggestion. I am not trying to force my views on 
anybody, but in my younger days I was quite a fisherman, and I re¬ 
member very distinctly having a little net bag that I used, and I 
used to think I could fill it with fish. I never succeeded in filling it, 
because the net kept stretching and stretching. My idea is to have a 
net sack, something that will give and that can be tied down just as 
close as is necessary, or let out as much as necessary, and yet it would 
not take up much room, and would be very light in transportation. 
The net could be made sufficiently strong to wear for a long period 
of time, and yet everybody who got hold of that sack could tell al¬ 
most at a glance whether it was filled with hat boxes or bon bons, or 
something else. I think that is a matter that might receive the con¬ 
sideration of this body and also of the department. 

Mr. Ivoons. We have representatives of the large mail-order 
houses here, and I should like to know what their experience is as to 
damage. 


94 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. Schmidt (Sears, Roebuck & Co.). Mr. Chairman, because of 
the system that we have in our plant we have very little damage. If 
we find that any particular article is being damaged, sent in the con¬ 
tainer that we have been using, we change the container. 

Mr. Koons. How do you pack your parcel post? 

Mr. Schmidt. Mostly in fiber boxes. 

Mr. Koons. Corrugated? 

Mr. Schmidt. Corrugated. 

Mr. Koons. There are other representatives of mail-order houses 
here. We should like to hear from them. 

Mr. Wynne (Montgomery Ward & Co.). At the present time we 
are having very little breakage of parcel-post matter. We keep con¬ 
stantly revising our method of packing merchandise that is easily 
breakable; in fact, we have a committee that works on that con¬ 
stantly, and investigations are continually made, and if this or that 
article appears to suffer damage in the mail, our packing methods 
are revised as requirements demand, so that as soon as we find any 
trouble we correct it. So, as I say, at the present time we are not 
having very much trouble. Our packing is good enough to carry us 
almost anywhere with reasonable handling. 

Mr. Koons. Is there any other representative of a mail-order 
house? 

Mr. Beckley. I can only confirm what Mr. Schmidt and Mr. 
Wynne have said. We have had very little trouble with the delivery 
of parcel-post packages where the Post Office Department w 7 as at 
fault. We make a series of tests from time to time in various sections 
of the country, particularly from our distributing points, and we test 
our packing material and the size of our packages, adjusting them as 
nearly as we can to cure the trouble, and we find that by working 
with the department, particularly with the postmasters at the points 
of mailing, that we get most valuable information, and that it helps 
us. I think in most cases it is a local trouble, and does not occur over 
the entire State. Of course, we would appreciate some method that 
would not entail so much expense, that would segregate fragile pack¬ 
ages so as to insure their delivery in nice shape and good condition. 

Mr. Koons. Is there any other representative of a mail-order house 
here? I think there is a representative of Marshall Field & Co. 

Mr. Hypes. I represent Marshall Field & Co. We are not exactly 
a mail-order house, but we have a great many packages such as you 
are describing that go out both wholesale and retail, and we try to 
take no chances with the Post Office Department. We pack the 
packages so that they can not be broken. We have incognito gone 
over to the post office when Mr. Carlisle was not looking, and we have 
seen how some of these packages are handled, so we try to pack the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 95 

packages in such a way that they will get to their destination intact, 
and we are not having very much trouble. 

Mr. Koons. Mr. Praeger would like to make a statement. 

Mr. Otto Praeger. These gentlemen connected with the mail-order 
houses say they have no trouble. I want to say that the trouble starts 
with the casual shipper, the individual. Take a large city that has 
from 50 to TO substations around town, many of them in drug stores, 
for the accommodation of the public—you can never get them to insist 
upon the proper packing. They take things, and we postmasters 
accept packages that the express companies or other transportation 
companies would never accept. Somehow you can not impress upon 
the public the necessity of proper packing, where people have not 
been educated up to that fact. 

The suggestion has been made as to a distinctive sack or hamper. 
It has been intimated that possibly we could carry more parcel post 
as outside packages. We have tried out both experiments for the 
purpose of ascertaining what would be the result of carrying parcel 
post in quantity outside. We sent a carload from New York to 
Kansas City and Chicago, and we sent them in great quantities to 
other points. The damage was inconsiderable, but the delay to 
train operations was appalling, and naturally we had to stop that. 
If that proposition could be carried out, you could get a possible 
solution. You would eliminate the handling of any sacks from the 
post office in screen wagons to the railroad platform. There you 
would eliminate one possible element of breakage through rough 
handling. The worst factor in the situation is the railroad porter, 
in getting the sacks to and from the cars. The greatest damage that 
we have been able to trace has been on the station platforms, by 
porters transferring from train to train, and hauling the parcel-post 
matter across the platform. For a period of nearly six months we 
had two traveling men, chief clerks, who covered every railroad sys¬ 
tem in the country and made a study of it, reporting all delinquencies 
and rough handling on the part of employees of the Kailway Mail 
Service and on the part of the station people and on the part of the 
screen-wagon and the mail-messenger contractors, and perhaps 70 
or 75 per cent of our trouble lay in the rough handling the mail 
received from the time it left the post office until it got onto the train. 

Now, the handling of loose parcels in quantities is not feasible 
on account of its slowing up train operations. It takes a long time 
to take from a truck the equivalent of 18 or 20 or 90 sacks of loose 
parcel post and put it into the stalls and bins in the cars, and the 
same way with the unloading. 

Now, we tried the very net sack that Mr. Rosenberg speaks of. 
We did not know there were so many nails and screws and spurs and 
points on which these net sacks would catch between the post office 


96 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


and the point of destination, and it was not a success. We had a chief 
clerk, Mr. Hoover, on the New York and Washington line, who con¬ 
ceived that idea, and spent a lot of his spare time on it, weaving for 
us a number of these sacks, but they will not work. 

We are now giving our attention to the problem of the individual 
hamper. It has not proved a practicable method. Mr. Denning, the 
general superintendent of the Railway Mail Service, has his men 
who are in charge of that work giving attention to a plan of loading, 
of making a receptacle that will hold two or three sacks, that will get 
a single handling in the post office and be put onto the truck, and 
put into the door of the car, so as to eliminate the slowing up and 
the piling up of empty hampers. I believe we will get something 
on that. But if you can educate the individual, the casual parcel- 
post shipper first, so that when a woman comes to the window with 
a shoe box filled with eggs or cranberries she will not fly into a huff 
and bring down the wrath of the town on the postmaster and his 
subordinates, that will be a long step in the education of the public. 
Then it is up to us to devise some means whereby we can eliminate 
the rough handling of the parcel post after it leaves the post-office 
platform and reaches the station platform. We are at work on that, 
but I declare I think immediate results can be obtained by a cam¬ 
paign of educating the individual shipper, because we have before us 
the example of the large shippers, the men whose business it is to 
get their stuff through in good shape to their patrons. I think some¬ 
thing will work out within this coming year, and I think we will 
do a little more now that the war is over. [Applause.] 

Mr. Thornton (Richmond, Ya.) What Mr. Praeger has said about 
the damage to parcel post on railway platforms leads me to tell of one 
case that came to my knowledge. In one of the depots of Richmond 
a mail train came in. A motor truck drew up alongside the car. The 
railway mail clerk began delivering the matter, and when he had 
loaded the truck to its full capacity he passed out a package con¬ 
taining eggs. There was no doubt as to its contents, because it was 
one of the patent egg containers. When the porter attempted to put 
it up on top of the load it required a great deal of care to balance it, 
because the truck was so overloaded that the thing could not get a 
solid foundation. The truck moved off. It had not gone more than 2 
or 3 feet when down tumbled this container with the eggs, falling a 
distance of probably 4 or 5 feet onto the concrete floor. This was seen 
by a post-office man, but he was not there officially. The question is, 
Should that railway mail clerk have permitted that porter to have 
put that package in that position or was it entirely the fault of the 
porter? I should like to know, because I should like to take up mat¬ 
ters of that kind to headquarters. If it is the responsibility of the 
depot officials, I should like to put it up to them. If the responsi-: 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


97 


bility is with the Railway Mail Service, they could take it up through 
the railway mail clerks. But you may take the most improved and 
scientific container in the world and you are not going to protect 
against this loss and damage when things of that kind occur. 

There is another thing that I have taken up in the past. We have 
a great deal of trouble on account of postmasters at post offices in the 
country receiving butter improperly packed. We all know, of course, 
that butter can not be shipped unless it is inclosed in a strong box. 
Now, we receive an average of 1,500 to 2,000 packages containing 
butter. One of my clerks last summer said to me, “ Come in on the 
floor and see what we have got.” I went out there and there were 
five buckets of butter with a little string tied over the top and no con¬ 
tainer. It was very warm weather, and the butter, of course, was in 
an almost liquid condition. The top had come off, and you can 
imagine the condition of the other contents of that bag with five 
packages of butter in such shape as that. There was a lady’s silk 
waist that I saw, which of course was ruined, and everything else in 
the sack in practically the same condition. I thought possibly it 
would, do some good to request postmasters to see if they could not be 
more careful in the future in reporting such matters to the depart¬ 
ment, but that did not seem to have the desired effect. Finally I 
wrote to the department and suggested that these postmasters be 
advised in some way, through some literature calling attention to 
what is necessary, telling them that they should be more careful; that 
you simply can not ship butter in the summer in any such way. In 
the winter, of course, you can ship it when it stays hard, but it seems 
to me we ought to get something to these small postmasters to get 
them to see that it is properly prepared before they receive it. I 
have no doubt if that could be done we could get relief from a great 
many complaints and claims that are made against the department 
because the contents of packages were injured. In one case a sack 
came in containing five or six cans of black paint. The tops had 
come off the cans and the black paint was running all over everything 
in the sack and of course everything in the sack was ruined. 

I do not know whether a red sack or a green sack or a blue sack 
would have prevented that sort of thing. I would really like to know 
where to report cases of that kind to get the proper consideration. 
That was one of the questions I wanted to ask Mr. Praeger. 

Mr. Praeger. If the postmaster of Richmond will report that case, 
he will find that some action will be taken. 

Mr. Thornton. This was not reported to me officially, but I wanted 
to know whether the railway porter should be held responsible or the 
railway mail clerk. 

113522—19-7 


98 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. Koons. I should like to say, for the information of those pres¬ 
ent, that when the parcels post service law was enacted, the question 
of hampers was the first thing that received our attention. I had the 
honor of being a member of the committee which had that under 
consideration at that tune. We immedately cabled foregn countries 
and asked them to send a sample of hampers. I think we received 
enough to fill this room. It never dawned on me until that time how 
impracticable they were. 

We next turned our attention to the sack, and there were many 
objections to that. The “ fragile ” tag was a compromise which some 
of us felt at the time it was like a great many other compromises, 
that it would not help us much. 

There is nothing we have kept in as close touch with as the dam¬ 
age to parcel post. We have made a study of it ever since the parcel 
post work has been started. We even had accounts kept in 50 of the 
largest cities of the United States, covering the total number of 
packages received and the total number received in damaged condi¬ 
tion. At that time it was only eight one-thousandtlis of 1 per cent 
of the total number received. It must be remembered we are hand¬ 
ling the fragile parcels, the parcels that are not packed as well as 
those that are sent b}^ express. Most express parcels go through in 
cartons or in board boxes. There is no hamper, there is no sack, that 
will protect a pound of butter that is just simply put in a paper bag 
and dropped into the mail. There is no hamper or sack on earth 
that will keep a box of grapes if they are put in a shoe box and 
dropped in the mail and decay within possibly 12 or 14 hours after 
they are put in the box and the box commences to break. It all 
comes back primarily to the question of packing. You postmasters 
can do more to eliminate this trouble by a campaign of education 
and seeing that parcels are not accepted unless properly packed. 
We have very little trouble with the large mailer. It is the occa¬ 
sional mailer we have the trouble with. If by proper protection of 
the wrapping you have a good package, you will have but little 
trouble in the handling of the parcels. 

There is another feature and that is during the period of the war 
we had such a poor quality of paper. I think the texture of the 
paper has been greatly reduced. Wrapping paper we were getting 
during the war was far inferior to that we had before the war. 

Another circumstance that contributes to this trouble is the class 
of labor that is used around the depots. It is not the high-grade 
class we had before the war, and there is no question that packages 
are handled roughly. 

We have issued a great many instructions in connection with this 
matter. We have even gone so far as to hold an individual clerk or 
postmaster responsible to the extent that the package was damaged, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


99 


if it was accepted when improperly packed. We realize that is a 
harsh regulation, but where it has been deliberately dona and the 
caution will not have any effect on the employee, we have not hesi¬ 
tated to make them pay for the value of the package that was dam¬ 
aged because they accepted it when it was improperly packed. 

If you men will start a campaign of education, you can accom¬ 
plish much good. When a person comes in to mail a package, do not 
throw it back to them and say “ that is not wrapped properly and we 
will not take it,” but explain to them in a courteous way why it is 
not properly wrapped. I have in mind an office in Chicago where 
they have a large quantity of wrapping paper which they secured 
from one source or another. If a person brings a package to the office 
not properly packed, they tell them how it should be packed and 
give them wrapping paper and a cord to tie it. These things would 
help out a great deal. We are experimenting with every way of 
handling the matter in the post office and on the railroads, with 
every kind of device that will protect these packages, and if you 
men will see that they are properly packed before mailing, we will 
have very little trouble with them. 

Mr- E. C. Miller (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Mr. Chairman, on the per¬ 
ishable feature of this question, I have had considerable trouble with 
perishable packages coming into the office marked “ Perishable.” 
For instance, on Saturdays they come in in considerable quantities, 
and we have got to get them out of the office. We find that a great 
many of those packages really are not perishable and should not re¬ 
ceive that special-delivery service without a special stamp. However, 
as you know, under orders from the department we are supposed to 
get out all perishable stuff that comes in and to get it out imme¬ 
diately. I think the department will find there are any number of 
people who are using the “ Perishable ” clause to secure the delivery 
of stuff quickly instead of paying the special-delivery charges on it. 
We have found in our office quite a number of cases within the last 
six or eight months where parcels come in marked “ Perishable ” be¬ 
cause the senders know they will receive special attention, although 
the contents are not as a matter of fact perishable, and they should 
be giving the department the benefit of payment for a special-delivery 
stamp instead of securing special delivery under the “ Perishable ” 
clause. 1 do not know that that matter comes under this heading, 
however. 

Mr. Koons. I am very glad to have that information, because it 
has been called to our attention and we are investigating it. 

Mr. Joe P. Johnston. There has been a special instruction issued 
on it. 

Mr. Willtam I. Denning (General Superintendent Railway Mail 
Service). Mr. Chairman, I call the attention of postmasters to the 


100 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


fact that the Railway Mail Service is engaged to-day in the prepara¬ 
tion of specifications for the packing of parcel-post packages. If 
you will submit to the department any questions with reference to 
which you are in doubt as to whether packages are properly packed, 
we shall be glad to give you our best judgment, based on our experi¬ 
ence, as to how they should be packed. I am confident that we will 
be of material assistance. I have personally observed in a certain 
post office recently an instance where a package was delivered to the 
window and the clerk refused to accept it because it was not properly 
packed. The customer just walked down to the next window, pre¬ 
sented the same package, and it was accepted. That unquestionably 
happens in hundreds of cases. We shall be glad to help you out and 
assist you in seeing that proper containers are used for the packing 
of parcel-post packages. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). If it is open to question’ I should 
like to ask the bureau whether the comparative number of claims on 
account of broken fragile packages and lost packages is the same, and 
how large a percentage of these fragile claims are paid. 

Mr. L. V. B. Marschalk (Superintendent Registered Mails). Such 
statistics as we have with reference to insured mails show that the 
claims amount to about one-eighth of the total number insured; that 
is, one-eighth of the total number of claims for lost parcels. 

Mr. Myers. Is it increasing or decreasing ? 

Mr. Marschalk. We do not notice any particular increase; in fact, 
I think it is on the decrease. 

Mr. Burke (Burlington, Yt.). There is one feature of the situa¬ 
tion I have heard touched very lightly, if at all. In the handling or 
shipping and especially in the receiving of packages by the clerk 
at the parcel-post window, we have this problem. Inspectors that 
have visited my office, when that matter has been called to their at¬ 
tention, have always suggested and insisted upon it that wherever 
we found a bag of parcel-post matter that was not properly han¬ 
dled or that did not properly contain the right kind of protection— 
for instance, we will find honey, maple sugar, and such stuff in with 
other packages, that should be on the outside—that it was our duty 
to report cases of that kind, so they might be remedied. I find there 
is quite a strong disposition on the part of the postmaster to hesitate in 
complying with that order. They hate to be called mean to their 
brother postmasters, and the result is that you let many of these 
cases go by, whereas if they were called to the attention of the proper 
authorities and the postmaster was notified where this thing hap¬ 
pened, it would act as a preventive measure in the future. 

As the First Assistant Postmaster General has said, you may talk 
from now until doomsday about remedying this condition, but I 
believe, just as he said, that the postmasters themselves, if they will 
see that their clerks comply with orders issued by the department 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


101 


with reference to the proper kind of packages in the right bag, and 
that packages that should not be placed in any bag at all shall be 
left on the outside, will find that they are the ones who can best 
solve the problem, because it has been my observation that most of 
the difficulties arising from the way in which this parcel-post-matter 
is handled occurs at the railway station and in your own offices. 
In my own office, in fact, I have noticed it. The clerks will get in 
a hurry, the person who prepares the package and brings it to the 
office is in a hurry, and all parcels look alike to him, no matter what 
color they may be, and they are simply thrown into the same gen¬ 
eral sack. That is universal all over the country, I believe. I be¬ 
lieve it is the duty of the postmaster to see that their clerks comply 
w T ith ordinary orders issued by the department, and whenever there 
is any complaint of mishandling on the part of a brother post¬ 
master, if he will report it to the proper authority the matter will 
be remedied, and I believe that is the most feasible and best way 
to solve the troubles that we are up against now in the handling of 
parcel-post packages, no matter what else we may think. In my 
office the clerks have been penalized on account of these complaints. 
They have had to pay, simply because they did not do their duty. 
That clerk in the future is going to be more careful. I believe that 
is the only way we can remedy it. 

Mr. De Berard. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the merchants’ as¬ 
sociation has given some study, but not a very comprehensive and 
complete study, to this subject of damage to parcel-post packages. 
We have had occasional complaints from merchants who were ship¬ 
pers, which we were bound to investigate. Upon a study of them I 
have found that the prime cause was insufficient packing in view of 
the rough handling that is inseparable from the transit of mail mat¬ 
ter or express matter. 

When the parcel post limit was so extended as to make it avail¬ 
able for the general shipment of the class of merchandise sent out 
by specialty concerns, several of them sent most of their shipments 
to the post office in the same kinds of packages that they had used 
for local deliveries or for sending matter by express, without giving 
due regard to the different conditions under which mail matter must 
necessarily be handled by the post office. Matter for local delivery, 
sent by automobiles or Tvagons, can safely be sent in relatively thin 
pasteboard boxes and with not very much expense for packing. 
Under those circumstances the goods are not piled one above another 
in such great bulk as to be liable to cause damage from crushing, and 
they are never packed in sacks. They are also separated with regard 
to the character of the contents. The earlier shippers did not realize 
the difference in the treatment which such matter going through the 
mails must receive; but as those differences became more evident to 


102 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


them through the claims which were made upon them by their own 
customers, on the ground that the parcels were not delivered in mar¬ 
ketable conditions, notwithstanding the fact that they were not re¬ 
sponsible for such damage, when those claims became numerous the 
necessity for changing their methods of packing became evident, and 
nearly all merchants now pack their goods that are to go through 
the mail in such a way, and using such material as corrugated board 
or heavy cartons, as to greatly minimize the damage. Nevertheless 
it still remains a fact that the damage accruing even to shipments 
of that class where they are packed with care by experienced pack¬ 
ers has been on the increase. I recently had a case brought to my 
notice in which a concern whose goods are very largely distributed 
by parcel post or by express formerly paid $5,000 a year insurance 
premiums covering all of their shipments. They preferred to adopt 
that plan rather than to incur the additional expense of changing 
the kind of pasteboard cartons in which their goods were shipped. 
£>uring the last year the insurance company raised their premium 
from $5,000 to $7,500 a year, that being indirect evidence of the in¬ 
creasing damage to the shipments of that particular firm. 

We gave some attention to the possibility of segregating the vari¬ 
ous classes of shipments, the necessity for which was made very clear 
by the result of che investigation conducted by the Hitchcock com¬ 
mittee some years ago, as a result of which investigation some 35,000 
or 37,000 postmasters gave abundant testimony as to the very great 
extent of damage caused by the transmission of unassorted mail 
matter in sacks. I recollect that in some of the letters sent by the 
postmasters they gave instances in which heavy hardware such as 
bolts and things of that kind were put in sacks containing ladies’ 
hats and fragile matter of various sorts, with the result that the 
damage in that case was very considerable. But so far as our study 
went, we were unable to see any practicable remedy for the existing 
conditions, other than the changing of the form of the container 
and the general use of containers that would withstand the rough 
usage which can not be escaped in the case of any matter that is 
transported in passenger cars. Anyone who is familiar with the 
conditions of transportation during the congested seasons of summer 
movement knows that it is utterly impossible to secure careful han¬ 
dling of the immense quantity of material that has to be unloaded 
from passenger cars. Trunks are simply dumped out of the doors of 
the cars, and I have myself seen express packages of large size 
thrown from the car doors without even any attempt to ease the mat¬ 
ter down to the platform. Mail sacks are usually heaved from the 
door on to the adjoining truck, the excuse for the rough and careless 
manner of handling being the limited train time that is allowed for 
each stop at stations to handle material, and it is impossible to move 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


103 


the train with proper expedition except by dumping the stuff out 
just as rapidly as it can be gotten out. 

The suggestion was made by the Hitchcock committee that ham¬ 
pers be used. That suggestion was voiced by a very considerable 
number of postmasters, that hampers be used for the protection of 
the parcel post mail matter. That on the face of it would appear to 
be a sound remedy. It is sound in that it would afford the desired 
safety, but the practical objections to it are very great. One that 
very readily occurs is that the cost of rail transportation, especially 
on that basis, would be very greatly increased, probably magnified 
several times by reason of the greatly increased space which would 
be made necessary by the transportation of hampers only partially 
laden, and by the return of the empties. As I have said, the gen¬ 
eral conclusion that we reached is that the only practicable and use¬ 
ful measure of protection is in educating the public to proper care 
in the preparation of parcels for shipment by the parcel post. 

To illustrate the necessity of that, an example came under my per¬ 
sonal observation last summer. I was returning home from a vaca¬ 
tion up in Maine. A sack was taken on at the hotel in the back¬ 
woods w here I had been stopping, and when it became necessary to 
change that sack to another steamboat it left a trail of vivid red 
along the road traveled by the sack, and we smelt it and found that 
somebody in the hotel had put probably a gallon or two of very 
luscious raspberries in a shoe box. The box was crushed and the 
juice of the raspberries ran out, so that everybody w T ho had any mail 
matter in that sack got the benefit of the enterprise of the summer 
boarder who thought she would send something to her friend in a dis¬ 
tant city. That simply illustrates the carelessness and neglect that 
commonly accompany shipments by mail. I know that when my 
own wife wants to send a parcel by post it is usually wrapped up in 
a paper that you could stick your finger through, and tied up with 
one turn of thin wdiite cord, and the package w T ould probably move 
about half a mile before it would come apart. I think most of the 
ladies who make casual shipments pack them in the same manner. 
I think the whole problem is one that is practically insoluble, and 
that if people wish to take advantage of the convenience and the 
cheapness afforded by the parcel post—and certainly it is a great 
convenience and a great economy—either they must pack their goods 
properly or themselves accept the loss incident to the damage result¬ 
ing from improper packing. But I should like to have the Post 
Office Department secure some fairly approximate estimate of the 
loss resulting from such damage. Inasmuch as the Post Office De¬ 
partment is not responsible for the damage, it does not have to 
duplicate the experience of the express companies. The express 
companies being responsible for damage, learned very fully and 


104 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


accurately the cost of the rough handling to which their shipments 
are subjected. The paymefit of damages is one of the heaviest items 
of expense of the express companies. If the Post Office were re¬ 
quired to pay for such damage probably they would be able to give 
us some estimate as to how much the parcel post system costs the 
people in addition to what they pay the Post Office for the service. 

Mr. Praeger. I should like to state for the information of those 
gentlemen who are large shippers what I forgot to mention awhile 
ago—the principal development in the way of improving parcel-post 
shipments that we have undertaken, but with the result that the rail¬ 
roads could not adopt them during, the war. We are going to make a 
most effective effort in the reduction of damage to parcel post, taking 
the system as a whole, and I think we will get to it before this fall. Our 
plan is to place in Chicago, New York, Boston, and such large cities 
a large parcel-post station on a railroad siding, to which station the 
parcel-post shippers will bring their stuff, and by this means one 
complete handling through a post office is going to be eliminated. 
All that parcel post will be brought to that central station in all the 
large cities, where it amounts to considerable, and where we can 
make our carload shipments. There it will be possible to handle 
that stuff that goes from New York to a distributing station in 
Chicago, at least, without sacks, as open as express matter goes, and 
the saving of damage when shipments can be made in that way is 
wonderful. As a result of a careful count we have ascertained that 
we will be able to send out nightly full carloads. We must have 
track facilities for six cars at a time in New York. We will send 
more than that in the Chicago station. The stuff will come to us 
directly from the shipper and will be packed in the cars, not by rail¬ 
road imrters, but by our own people. It will be carefully packed 
in the cars and sent out in full carloads or half or three-quarter car¬ 
loads every night, on fast passenger trains. That will get an im¬ 
mediate result for parcel post in great quantities. That system 
should have gone into effect last fall, but, unfortunately, both at New 
York and Chicago traffic and war conditions were such that we could 
not make the arrangement at either city; but we will get to that this 
summer, and you are going to notice the first big improvement in the 
reduction of such damage as we have had on parcel post that can be 
remedied by that change. I thought I would state that to you be¬ 
cause I had forgotten to mention it before. [Applause.] 

Mr. Blakslee. The change described by the Second Assistant un¬ 
questionably will result in lessening damage to the parcel post. 
Another subject worthy of attention is that there ought to be a sys¬ 
tem devised by which the responsibility for damage may be fixed. 
You have noticed the damage to shipments of parcel-post matter 
between place of origin and point of destination, and in traveling 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONEEPvENCE. 


105 


around through the country I have noticed that some of that damage 
has been the fault of unnecessarily rough handling. I believe that 
with the addition of a system that would fix the responsibility for 
unusual or unnecessary damage we can, in addition to the ideas ad¬ 
vanced by the Second Assistant, eliminate a tremendous amount of 
loss and resultant inconvenience to the patrons of the Postal Service, 
and I suggest that there be a system of checks on the methods pur¬ 
sued in the handling of the matter between the point of origin and 
the destination of parcel-post matter, so that we can fix the indi¬ 
vidual responsibility for rough usage thereof. 

Mr. Miller (Fort Wayne). Mr. Chairman, I move that section 13 
be concurred in and referred to the proper bureau for action. 

(The motion was carried.) 

Mr. Dockerv. Gentlemen, I desire to interrupt the proceedings to 
ask your permission that Mr. Praeger, Second Assistant Postmaster 
General, preside for a little while, as I want a “ reliable ” presiding 
officer for a few moments. [Laughter.] 

Some time since, by order of the Postmaster General, the Bureau 
of-the Third Assistant Postmaster General, after consultation with 
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, prepared a commemorative 
victory stamp. Those stamps have been printed to the number of 
100,000,000 and distributed to the post offices of the United States. 

I know you share with me to the fullest extent the delightful 
social pleasures that have been incident to this conference, as well 
as the instructive features that have been developed by discussion. 
As appreciative of your feeling as well as my own, I desire at this 
time to present to our beloved First Assistant Postmaster General, 
who is responsible for this meeting, a victory stamp autographed by 
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, and by the Post¬ 
master General, and certified to by me, as Third Assistant Postmaster 
General, victory stamp No. 5 of the first sheet printed. We present 
this stamp to him as a slight token of our appreciation of his effi¬ 
ciency and delightful character as a postal official. 

(The audience rose and applauded Mr. Koons vigorously.) 

Mr. Koons. Gov. Dockery, if I had known you were going to do 
this I should not have let you talk. I want to express my apprecia¬ 
tion—my sincere appreciation—of this token from Gov. Dockery and 
the gentlemen here present. There is nothing I can appreciate any 
more, especially because I know what Gov. Dockery went through 
shortly after he brought these stamps into existence. If I had known 
he was going to give me this I should have insisted that he read a 
certain letter which he received. 

I will not take your time to say anything more than to again 
express my sincere appreciation of this token, and I assure you I shall 
always cherish it as a fond remembrance of this meeting. 


106 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. Dockery. I had several of the stamps of the first sheet printed, 
mounted, and framed. I wish I had enough to give one to eacli 
postmaster and postal official here, but I have not. My money was 
exhausted after I had framed about 15 or 20. That stamp, as you 
know, bears the standing figure of Liberty, with the flags of England 
and Belgium and France and Italy.and our own inspiring Stars and 
Stripes. 

As further appreciative of my feeling to you, and because I can not 
give one of the stamps to each of you, and also as expressive of the 
feelings of the First, Second, and Fourth Assistant Postmasters 
General, I want to present stamp No. 12 to the president of the Na¬ 
tional Association of Postmasters, Mr. Selph. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. My dearly beloved governor, the man who made me a 
colonel—and I forgot to mention to Mr. Bell last night we were also a 
convention of colonels—I am not going to say that I can not find 
words to express my thanks, because I am fulsome with words. 
[Laughter.] I accept this, Gov. Dockery, not because it is a compli¬ 
ment to me, but a compliment to those whom I have the honor to rep¬ 
resent. Postmasters have come now to know that it is better to serve 
than not to serve; that public office is no longer a private snap. We do 
not occupy, as the four distinguished Assistant Postmasters General 
well know, any sinecure. The}^ know that because they would not per¬ 
mit it. We are only too glad to lend our aid and our effort in assist¬ 
ing our superior officers in bettering the service and making it the 
most efficient of the great business institutions in this Nation. I sin¬ 
cerely thank you for this kindly token, I assure you. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Mr. Selph. Mr. Chairman, at this time I desire to ask the indul¬ 
gence of the conference for the purpose of entertaining some resolu¬ 
tions which have been prepared by postmasters, and that they may be 
introduced at this time. For that purpose I ask that Postmaster 
Kinnear, of Columbus, be heard. 

Mr. Kinnear (Columbus, Ohio). Mr. Chairman, I wish to offer 
the following resolution: 

The postmasters of the United States as represented at this conference by 
officials directing the operation of the largest and most important post offices 
in the United States, which have an aggregate population of approximately 
50.000,000 people, desire to express their whole-hearted appreciation of the 
high privilege enjoyed by them in receiving the counsel, advice, and cooperation 
of the business interests, as represented in this conference by organizations of 
national scope and prominence. 

We feel that a great advancement has been made in bringing into closer con¬ 
nection the Postal Service and the business interests of the country. One is 
indispensable to the other and both are necessary to the success of each, and we 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


107 


believe that the future conduct of the post offices of the United States when the 
value of this conference is known and understood will create a spirit of cohesive 
harmony and make for higher efficiency everywhere that the United States mail 
is collected and delivered. 

We therefore desire to go on record as expressing our gratitude and our sincere 
appreciation for the deep interest and frank and open discussion displayed by 
the several representatives of the national organizations and business concerns 
present with us in this conference: Therefore be it 

Resolved by the postmasters in conference here assembled in Washington, 
D. C., on the 3d day of April, 1919, That we commend to every postmaster in the 
Postal Service of the United States his hearty cooperation not only with the 
business interests of his community but with the organized business bodies 
known as the chamber of commerce, merchants’ associations, boards of trade, 
and such other organizations that have the interest of the business community 
at heart. 

I move the adoption of the resolution. 

(The motion was unanimously carried.) 

Mr. Selph. Mr. Chairman, great economic questions and problems 
confront us at this time, and, as this body is representative of the senti¬ 
ment of a large number of our population throughout the Nation, we 
believed it wise to offer to this body at this time a resolution which is 
touching upon one of the most important economic subjects now be¬ 
fore the people. For that purpose I ask that Postmaster Frank C. 
Sites, of Harrisburg, Pa., be heard. 

Mr. Frank C. Sites. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I wish to offer 
the following resolution: 

The postmasters of the United States as represented here in this conference 
desire to call the serious attention of the postal patrons of our communities to 
the ice famine which is imminent, owing to the fact that no natural ice was cut 
during the winter. 

This situation has grave and dangerous possibilities, and we appeal therefore 
to the people of the United States to conserve the use of ice, avoiding wasteful¬ 
ness, and to reduce in every way the postal shipment of foodstuffs that require 
refrigeration, and to aid and assist in conserving ice, so that the children of the 
Nation may be provided with the proper refrigeration of milk and foodstuff, and 
the sick and sick poor in hospitals may be provided for: Therefore be it 

Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to every post office in the serv¬ 
ice and that the postmaster display same on the bulletin board of his office, in 
addition to which he is requested to urge all those with whom he comes in con¬ 
tact to organize for the conservation and economy in the use of ice. 

I move the adoption of this resolution. 

(The resolution was unanimously adopted.) 

Mr. Selpii. Mr. Chairman, I ask that Postmaster Jackson, of Mex¬ 
ico, Mo., be heard on this occasion, for the purpose of presenting a 
resolution. 

Mr. W. R. Jackson (Mexico, Mo.). Mr. Chairman, I desire to offer 
the following resolution: 

In high appreciation of the many courtesies which members of this conference 
have received during their stay in Washington, we desire to go on record in 


108 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


recognition of same, as indorsing tlie action of this conference, and sincerely 
thanking, first, the Postmaster General and his able assistants for the time, 
patience, and consideration given to our suggestions, criticisms, and complaints, 
to thank the bureau heads and attaches of the Post Office Department for the 
many kindly acts extended to us, and, third, to express our appreciation of the 
cooperation of the representatives of the Post Office Inspection Service and the 
Railway Mail Service: Therefore be it 

Resolved, That this resolution be made a part of the record of this conference 
and that the First Assistant Postmaster General, Hon. John C. Ivoons, make such 
provision as is consistent for the publication of the proceedings of this confer¬ 
ence. 

I move the adoption of this resolution by a rising vote. 

Mr. Weaver (Oklahoma). I second the motion. 

(The resolution was adopted by a unanimous rising vote.) 

Mr. Joe P. Johnston. Mr. Chairman, when Mr. Sites read his ice- 
conservation resolution it occurred to me that Congress has already 
taken a very forward step along the same line, eifective the 1st of 
July. [Laughter.] 

Representing to some extent that portion of the conference who 
are not paying members, at any rate, of the National Association of 
Postmasters, I desire to submit the following: 

We desire to express the thanks of this conference to the officers and members 
of the National Association of Postmasters for the assistance rendered the 
members of the conference and for the hospitality and entertainment we have 
received at their hands. We feel that the National Association of Postmasters 
as now organized and conducted is a great assistance and help to all those en¬ 
gaged in increasing the efficiency of the Postal Service. We commend the action 
of the officers and members of the National Association of Postmasters in emanci¬ 
pating themselves from all matters except those relating to the betterment of 
the service and the advancement and progress of the postal establishment. 

I move the adoption of this resolution. 

Mr. Dockery. I will put the motion. Let us have a rising vote. 

(The resolution was unanimously adopted by a rising vote.) 

Mr. Clore. Mr. Chairman, I have not prepared resolutions. I have 
been wondering as I sat here what these business men think of the 
post-office service when all of the big post offices of the country can 
spare their postmasters for nearly a week, and they may think that 
we are really not necessary to the successful operation of the post 
office at all times. 

Mr. Johnston. That is true. 

Mr. Clore. I sometimes say that the post office runs very well when 
I am there, in fact in spite of me, and runs perhaps as well or better 
when I am not there. But during this entire meeting, and especially 
last night at the banquet, and it has been emphasized again to-day 
when these resolutions have been offered here, I have been reminded 
of the fact that there are perhaps 20,000 railway mail clerks in the 
United States who leave their homes and travel throughout the length 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


109 


and breadth of this land on trains operating post offices, distributing 
your mail and mine; that there are 32,000 city letter carriers in the 
United States who are traveling not less than 300,000 miles per day 
distributing mail into the homes and business places of the people; 
that there are 43,000 rural carriers, traveling perhaps nearly 900,000 
miles per day every day in the year except Sunday, no matter what 
the condition of the weather may be, distributing the mail to the 
farmers of this country; that there are 45,000 clerks engaged in the 
post offices of this country working day and night, Sundays and holi¬ 
days, distributing the mail to the people; and I think that a resolution 
ought to be offered and passed here expressing our high appreciation 
of the services of these men back in the trenches and also expressing 
to them our high regard for their loyalty and devotion to duty at all 
times, and especially the way in which they have been bearing the 
heavy burdens that were imposed upon them during the war, without 
complaint and without extra pay, until the last year. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. I move that the Hon. Mr. Clore be requested to prepare 
such a resolution for introduction in this body. 

(The motion was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Ivoons. Gentlemen, while w~e are on this, on behalf of the Post¬ 
master General and my associates and the gentlemen of the depart¬ 
ment, I wish to express again my sincere appreciation to the represen¬ 
tatives of the business organizations who have so kindly come here and 
shared our deliberations, and have given us so many intelligent sug¬ 
gestions, which I know will result in great benefit to the service. 

I desire also to express my appreciation to the superintendents of 
the Railway Mail Service and to the inspectors in charge who have 
been so kind as to meet with us. This is the first time in the history 
of the Post Office Department, so far as I am able to learn, that the 
15 superintendents of the Railway Mail Service, the 15 inspectors in 
charge, and the postmasters of the largest cities of the United States, 
and representatives of the business organizations of the country have 
ever met together in a conference of this kind. I want to express my 
appreciation to the postmasters. Some of you have come all the way 
from the Pacific coast. It has not only been an expensive trip to you 
but it has been a hard trip. You have worked very faithfully with us 
here, and no one appreciates what you gentlemen have done, and the 
assistance that you have rendered to the department by coming here, 
more than the Postmaster General and my associates. 

Last of all I desire to express my particular appreciation to the 
National Association of Postmasters for the delightful banquet they 
gave us last night; because if they had not come to our rescue, I am 
afraid that w T e would have had no entertainment of any kind. I 
certainly want to express again my sincere appreciation, not only 
mine but that of the Postmaster General and of my associates, and I 


110 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


hope this conference will result in a great deal of good. Now, in 
order to accomplish that good you must not forget about it as soon 
as you go home. You postmasters must start and put into effect the 
improvements that we are deciding upon here now, and I warn you 
that I am going to find out whether you do put them into effect. 
[Applause.] 4 ■ J 

Mr. Fairfield. Mr. Chairman, that resolution w T ent through so 
fast a little while ago that I did not get a chance to express the very 
hearty appreciation of the Chicago Association of Commerce; and I 
am sure I echo the sentiments of every other business interest, not only 
those which are so fortunate as to be represented here but of those 
throughout the country, who will be exceedingly delighted to know of 
this splendid cooperation on the part of the Postal Service, through 
the Postmaster General and his assistants and the postal officials and 
the postmasters. It is splendid. It is going to produce excellent 
results, and I am sure that you will receive the heartiest cooperation 
from every business interest. Also I take this occasion to thank the 
postmasters for the splendid entertainment afforded us last night. 
We certainly heartily concur in Mr. Johnston’s resolution. 

Mr. De Berard. Mr. Chairman, I appear to be a good deal in evi¬ 
dence for a man who seldom speaks. But wise old Solomon said, 
u There is a time to speak and there is a time to keep silent.” I think 
it would be a failure on my part if I kept silent at this moment and 
failed to speak and to express to you the deep sense of appreciation 
which I, personally and on behalf of my organization, desire to ex¬ 
press of the kindly sentiments, the wise judgment, the full discussion, 
and the warm cooperation which have been shown at this meeting. 

There was a little series of stories called Young Citizens, written by 
a clever magazine writer a few years ago, dealing with the experiences 
of the Jewish school children on the East Side of New York. Prom¬ 
inent amongst the sayings in that little book was the uniform ex¬ 
pression of the sentiments and feelings of many of the pupils toward 
their teachers. Wherever they felt especially grateful to their teacher 
they always told her that they had “ kind feelings on her.” I wish to 
say, gentlemen, that the Merchants’ Association of New York has kind 
feelings on you. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. With the permission of the chairman I want to ask 
the following postmasters to accompany me to the Commissioner of 
Internal Revenue for the purpose of thanking him for breaking an 
appointment last night to come to our dinner to address us. Have I 
your permission, Mr. Chairman? 

Mr. Koons. Yes. 

Mr. Selph. Postmaster Kinnear, of Columbus; Postmaster Gar¬ 
ble, of Chicago; Postmaster Weaver, of Oklahoma City; Postmaster 
Burgher, of Dallas; Postmaster Sites, of Harrisburg; and Post- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Ill 


master Jones, of Atlanta. If you gentlemen desire to go with me, 1 
would be glad to have you meet me in the committee room, with the 
permission of the chairman. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, you have permission, but we would like 
to have you back here at 1 o’clock. The gentleman who took the 
photograph yesterday wants to take it again to-day. He wants to 
have the Postmaster General, the four assistants, and the supervising 
officials of the department. 

Mr. Rosenberg. May I ask your kind indulgence for just a minute 
before these gentlemen leave the room ? I should be lacking in appre¬ 
ciation and courtesy, to say the least, did I not rise to express my 
heartfelt thanks and appreciation for the privilege of being here 
with you to-day and during the course of this session. Fortunately 
or unfortunately, I do not know which, I am in a very small minority, 
being the only representative here, as far as I know, in an official 
capacity of the great publishing interests, particularly of New York, 
and generally throughout the country. The publishers whom I 
represent directly, and a great many whom I am representing indi¬ 
rectly, are men of high character, great patriotism, and 100 per cent 
Americanism. My direct connection with these publishing interests 
has extended over a period of only about 11 months, or since I left 
the Postal Service. The amount of energy expended by them toward 
winning the war is so great that language simply fails me to describe 
it. As an instance I might mention that one publisher in New York 
raised over $130,000,000 for the fourth liberty loan directly through 
personal efforts, at great sacrifice and expense to himself. Another 
publishing concern in which I am interested started a subscription 
about 12 o’clock and within 15 minutes they had subscribed over 
$500,000 toward the fourth liberty loan right in their own estab¬ 
lishment. 

The publishers generally are very anxious and very willing indeed 
to cooperate with the postal officials toward getting their mail home 
promptly and expeditiously. I am sure that their cooperation will 
be many times greater if the postmasters and others who come in 
contact with them will, as General Roper said last night at the 
dinner, sell the Post Office Department to the public. I think a 
great deal of the misunderstanding and a great deal of the criticism 
and complaint was due to the fact that the Post Office officials had 
not sold the Post Office to the public. I think that a closer under¬ 
standing of the trials, tribulations, and problems of the Post Office 
Department is a wonderful thing. No doubt this conference will 
result in a great deal of progress. I look forward to the most won¬ 
derful progress as the result of this conference. 

Gentlemen, in conclusion, I want again to thank you, one and all, 
for the great courtesy extended to me as the representative of the 


112 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


publishing interests. I assure you that I will take great pains, as I 
have always done, to bring about a friendlier feeling and a closer 
relationship between the publishing interests and the Post Office 
Department and the various branches of the Government service. 
[Applause.] 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, we will take up No. 18. I understand 
that the gentleman who submitted that wishes to leave on an early 
train, and we will be glad to take it up now. That is the expediting 
of the delivery of third-class matter. 

Mr. Hypes (Marshall Field & Co.). Gentlemen, we appreciate that 
conditions are not normal, and have not been for some time. We did 
not bring to this conference an}dhing except one or two matters 
which meant serious trouble for us and a loss of considerable busi¬ 
ness. I refer to the slow delivery on third-class matter—that is, 
circulars. In the last year or two we sent out a number of circulars 
in an advancing market, and in those circulars we found it necessary, 
contrary to our custom, to limit the time during which we offered the 
goods for sale. Probably most of the circulars carried a time limit 
of 10 daj^s, letting every merchant have an opportunity to get his 
orders in for this merchandise. You know we do not expect the 
same service for third-class matter that we do for first class, or we 
would have sent it all first class, but w T e do expect that there shall not 
be a delay of perhaps more than two days or, at the most, more than 
three days’ difference between the delivery of third-class matter over 
first-class matter. But we have had reports, and I have submitted 
a couple of letters to your special committee, with one of these cir¬ 
culars, where it took from 10 to 15 days to deliver those circulars, and 
this is not an unusual occurrence. We have had these complaints 
for a number of months. The prices quoted in these circulars were 
very attractive, and we were pretty sure to hear complaints if the 
circulars were late in reaching our customers, or if on sending in 
their orders they found either that the merchandise was sold out or 
that the date of the sale had expired. That put us in a pretty em¬ 
barrassing position, because if the sale ended on the 15th day of 
the month and the merchant received the circular on the 15th or 16th, 
he expected to have his order filled, because it was not his fault that 
he did not get the circular. It is pretty hard to explain to that 
merchant that the fault is not ours. To be consistent with all our 
customers we stated in the circular that no orders would be filled 
at those prices after the expiration of the date, and to play fair with 
everybody we could not accept the requisitions of the merchants for 
the prices quoted, after the expiration of the sale, even if we had the 
merchandise on hand. Then we ran the chance of losing a customer, 
and I have no doubt we have impaired our service with our customers 
to some extent in this regard, and we know that some of our good 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


113 


friends are very much upset over the occurrence. We have tried to 
run down this matter and locate the trouble. We are satisfied the 
fault is not in the Chicago post office. We are pretty handy, and we 
have means of investigating the getting of these circulars through the 
Chicago post office, and they have been delivered promptly through 
that office. 

Mr. Johnston. What cities were you circularizing? 

Mr. Hypes. We were circularizing the -whole United States, prac¬ 
tically every State in the Union. The principal criticisms came from 
certain sections. While we have had more or less criticisms of delays 
from all of the territory, the most serious delays have been in the 
western part of Missouri, in Kansas, Oklahoma, in Indiana, and in 
Ohio. In order to find out what the trouble was I have notified our 
division sales managers in Kansas and Indiana and some of these 
other territories when a circular was going to be mailed, notifying 
them that a circular would be mailed in order to reach a certain ter¬ 
ritory, say, on Monday, and to ascertain when those circulars were 
really received. I have had reports from these men that where we 
figured that the circular should be in the possession of all those mer¬ 
chants on Monday, at the end of that week the circular had not been 
received, and not one had been seen in some of those territories. So 
we are able to say that there was something radically wrong in the 
handling of those circulars. I understand that they go out of Chicago 
packed in large sacks and are sent to distributing stations where they 
are rehandled. Now, as I say, we do not expect first-class service for 
third-class mail, but we do expect something better than two weeks 
in the delivery of those circulars. It has been a matter of very seri¬ 
ous import to us. I think Mr. Fairfield, of the Chicago Association 
of Commerce, will bear me out in the statement that we are not the 
only ones making this complaint in the city of Chicago, but that this 
same complaint has come in greater or less degree from all the manu¬ 
facturers and distributors. While I have the floor for a minute I 
want to say to General Koons that I do not believe he appreciates 
what a lot of business getters he has among this aggregation of post¬ 
masters. I have been approached by them who, when they saw this 
little insignia on my coat, “ Marshall Field & Co.,” said to me, “ Why 
don’t we get some of your catalogues in our post office? ” I want to 
explain to all of the postmasters who do not understand that we have 
a different relation to the trade from the mail-order houses like Sears, 
Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward & Co., who circulate their 
catalogues to the consumers. We do not circulate any catalogues, 
and very little other matter that goes to the consumer. While we 
could very largely increase our business from our retail store if we 
did so, it would be to the detriment of our wholesale department. 

113r>22 °—19-8 



114 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


We do not consider it fair to solicit business from retail merchants 
and then solicit business from his customers, so we do not send out 
catalogues. That is the reason why you do not see Marshall Field & 
Co.’s retail catalogues. There isn’t any such animal, but we do send 
out quite a number of catalogues from the wholesale department, and 
for the last two or three years we have been using the parcel post in 
the distribution of these catalogues. We used to send them out by 
express altogether. We send out these catalogues at different times, 
and in the course of a year we send out an immense amount, and it 
means a great deal to us to have them delivered in a reasonable time. 

I want to thank you for the opportunity of coming here and meet¬ 
ing these gentlemen. I believe, as has been so very well said, that a 
great deal of good is coming from this conference. 

Mr. Jones. In what shape were these circulars sent out? I think 
if publishers and business houses would consult the post office and 
find just the way to ship circulars, they could be worked better and 
handled better in the post office as a rule. 

Mr. Hypes. Most of our circulars are folded twice and sent out in 
a flat envelope. I think the postmaster of Chicago, Mr. Carlile, 
will tell you that the circular matter from our house is delivered to 
the post office in shape so that it can be handled easily. We call for 
and deliver all of our mail, and I think you will find that that cir¬ 
cular matter goes out in easily handled shape. 

Mr. Koons. In answ r er to the letters we sent out to the business 
men we had a number of similar complaints, and apparently there is 
delay in the delivery of this circular matter. I am very much inter¬ 
ested in it, because we want to find out the cause and take immediate 
steps to remedy it. Of course, last October and November we suf¬ 
fered an epidemic of the influenza, and some post offices had to be 
closed. In others w^e had to send inspectors or clerks from an ad¬ 
joining county in order to keep the service going. In Philadelphia 
at one time we had over 800 employees who were off duty sick with 
the “ flu.” I think in Washington we had 200 at one time. Of 
course, when that was added to our depleted force of experienced 
people, depleted because of the war, it necessarily reduced very mate¬ 
rially our ability to handle mail promptly. Of course, that only 
covered a period of two months. There is no question as to delays 
occurring in the third-class mail, the circular matter, and I hope you 
postmasters will suggest freely what you think is the cause of it. 
If it is our fault, say so. If you have not a sufficient force of clerks, 
say so, for we want to get at the bottom of it and remedy it just as 
quickly as we can. 

Mr. Fairfield. About 80 per cent of the complaints brought before 
the postal service committee of the Chicago Association of Commerce 
relate to delays on third-class matter, such as Mr. Hypes has de- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


115 


scribed. We get those complaints right along, almost every day. 
There was delay last October during the “ flu,” and they had some 
that bunched up in certain localities—Indiana and Kansas, or in 
the territory distributed through the Kansas City terminals. I think 
there is some particular trouble right there, because it seems to be 
particularly bad. The merchants of Chicago who handle that kind 
of business are very much exercised over that. Their complaints are 
very numerous, and, as Mr. Hypes has very clearly brought out, they 
are extremely irritating. 

Mr. De Berard. Mr. Chairman, the merchants’ association has 
had many complaints about the slow delivery of third-class mail, 
particularly in the case of house organs that are published by firms 
for the information as to prices current of their customers and their 
salesmen; also papers whose mission and reason for existence is the 
distribution of prices current on a given date. Those are very gen¬ 
erally slow in reaching the addressee, and in many cases their value 
has become greatly impaired or even they may have become abso¬ 
lutely worthless. 

There is another phase of this matter which, to my mind, indicates 
that anything that looks like third-class matter is very apt to be 
held up in the mail, possibly by preference that Is given other classes 
of mail. The merchants’ association issues every week and dis¬ 
tributes to its members 8,900 copies of its weekly bulletin, Greater 
New York. We have made inquiry amongst our members as to the 
time that is received, and we find very frequently, though it is mailed 
on Saturday and dated the following Monday, it is not received until 
Wednesday and sometimes Thursday by our members. It often 
contains advance notices of Treasury decisions, regulations, and 
various governmental activities in Washington which govern the 
movement of export goods, and failure to receive prompt notice has 
a serious effect upon these business concerns. All that matter is sent 
with first-class postage in a blank envelope about the size of this 
sheet [indicating].. The purpose of sending it first class is to in¬ 
sure its speedy movement. But despite that, by reason of its re¬ 
semblance in the character of wrapper to third-class matter, it is 
very frequently delayed. 

We also send that to all the business organizations throughout the 
country, and we find in the majority of cases d takes from a week 
to 10 days to reach points all of which should be reached within 
three days at the outside. 

We think, therefore, that investigation should be made as to the 
conditions under which third-class mail is handled in the various 
offices, and possibly in the office receiving it, in order that its de¬ 
livery might be expedited. 


116 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. T. J. Costello (Springfield, Mass.). Mr. Chairman, if I may 
be permitted to say just a Avord, Ave haA^e one of the largest publish¬ 
ing houses in the country in our city. At times they dump two 
or three hundred thousand circulars into the Springfield post office. 
Incidentally, they put decoys in there. They address them to their 
different branches throughout the United States requesting them to 
notify them Avhen they receive these circular letters. There may be 
a number of complaints resulting. It seemed I could not straighten 
the thing out, and I sent for the man in charge of the mailing di¬ 
vision of this publishing house and asked if he could not arrange 
to “ state up ” this circular letter. They can do it very easily and 
very readily. I asked also if he could not tie them. In some depart¬ 
ments they agreed to tie up, but in most departments they “ stated ” 
them, put them in boxes, and it Avas a very easy matter for the 
superintendent or the clerk in our mailing division to run through 
them when they were “ stated up.” 

In cases Avhere they Avere endeavoring to get neAV subscribers cir¬ 
cular letters Avere sent out identical Avith the letters described by the 
last speaker, in which they Avere offering premiums from a certain 
date that ran for 15 days only, and if they were delayed any un¬ 
necessary length of time, of course they had no effect because of the 
inability of intending subscribers to get their subscriptions in within 
the time fixed. I asked him on Avhat he called the “ nixies ” of neAV 
subscribers, if he Avould not send them over tAvo or three days ahead 
and give us an opportunity to “ state up ” and tie them up and send 
them to a terminal. He has done that, and at the present time we 
are receiving very few complaints. On his decoy letters which he 
sent out to the different States where more complaints came in than 
from others, we tested them out, and if the postmaster or the Rail¬ 
way Mail Service was to blame in that particular locality we checked 
it up to the Post Office Department. To-day I believe the Phelps 
Publishing Co., of Springfield, are perfectly satisfied with the way 
in which the Postal Department is handling their circular letters. 

Very few publishers dump in 800,000 letters on us without any 
notice whatsoever, but if the publisher will “ state up ” these letters 
when he gets the addresses, which he can do, and box them, if he 
does not care to tie them up, it will save a wonderful lot of time for 
the post office and enable the post office to give the publisher vastly 
better service. These letters come into my office in this way. I also 
made arrangement to put a slip right on top of this circular showing 
the day and date it was received at my office. I can go out through 
the working room, and if there are any trucks of circular letters there 
I can look at the slips and tell just when they came in and how long 
they have been there. Say I go out there on the 8th of the month 
and they shoAV that the letters came in on the 6th. I call over the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


117 


superintendent of the mailing division and ask when he is going to 
get them out. Occasionally we have to work overtime, but the Post 
Office Department is not prepared to handle a large number of cir¬ 
cular letters, like two or three hundred thousand, ordinarily. We 
can not merely step out into the highways and byways to get men to 
come in and work those circulars. We have to depend on our regu¬ 
lar working force. We can not ask the department to appropriate 
more money for auxiliary help, because you could not regulate this 
circular mail matter in such way as to enable them to properly 
handle that kind of a proposition. If it could be regulated for cer¬ 
tain business houses, if they could send out a certain number of cir¬ 
culars in certain number of fixed times, and if they would get in 
touch with the postmaster, there would not be any complaint or any 
trouble whatever. If you can secure the cooperation of the publish¬ 
ing houses to “state” them up, as the Phelps Publishing Co. does 
for us, I do not think you will have any more complaints and prob¬ 
ably not as many as you have at the present time. 

Mr. W. F. Hypes (Marshall Field & Co., Chicago). May I add, 
Mr. Chairman, that we do everything that has been suggested here? 
We have worked and cooperated with the post office in Chicago and 
have endeavored to do everything we could along this line to assist 
them in the prompt and efficient handling of our third-class matter. 
Our investigations show, however, that the delays do not occur in the 
Chicago post office, but occur out in the country, either at the termi¬ 
nals en route or at the points of delivery. 

Mr. Denning. This circular mail is a class of mail that has of 
necessity to be withdrawn for distribution from the railway mail 
cars. There is very little of it distributed en route. It is either dis¬ 
patched to a terminal railway post office, properly “ stated ” in some 
railway depot to a distant place or to a distant post office for distri¬ 
bution. If the gentlemen who have complaints as to delays can tell 
us the States involved it would be a very easy matter for us to locate 
the place of responsibility—whether it was in the post office or in the 
terminal railway post office. 

So far as the terminal railway post offices are concerned, we have 
been up against a considerable difficulty in the matter of trained 
forces, but we get weekly reports showing each day the number of 
circulars it carries over in our terminals, and those reports are 
watched very carefully, and if everything is carried over longer than 
-18 hours—and I will say that in recent months these are very rare 
occasions—we give the superintendent a pretty stiff telegram that 
that condition must be eliminated. 

I want to say there have been delays that should not have occurred, 
but we are getting them down to where the delay of as much as 48 
hours at a terminal is a very rare thing, and only in such case where 


118 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


there is an unexpected avalanche of this class of mail that comes 
upon us. I think the postmasters and business houses should keep us 
informed of these delays, especially where they get a number of 
delays in one State. It is then a very easy matter to determine where 
the responsibility lies—whether in the terminal railway post office 
or in the post office. 

Mr. Brauer, who is chairman of our terminal committee, if the 
conference desires further information, could give you a further 
explanation with reference to this matter. 

Mr. Rudolph S. Brauer (division superintendent Railway Mail 
Service, Omaha). Mr. Chairman, the representative of Marshall 
Field & Co. states he is satisfied the trouble does not exist in Chicago, 
and I am satisfied that is absolutely correct. The Chicago postmaster 
has made arrangements with the big mailers to run their circulars 
out into States, and they have made up their circulars into States 
and made up the “ directs ” at their plants, and I do not believe 
there has been any delay in the Chicago office for a long time. Those 
circulars intended for Missouri go to St. Louis; those for Indiana 
go to the Indianapolis post office. The Nebraska circulars come to 
me at Omaha. The Iowa circulars are worked out in the terminal 
at the Union Depot. When we started in working these circulars 
at terminals—but I had better go back a little further. We started 
that system because of the enormous quantity of circulars that were 
dumped into the post offices at one time. Mr. Costello spoke of two 
or three hundred thousand. I have seen 2,000,000 circulars light into 
the New York post office at one time from one firm. If you will think 
back to 1911, when that special investigation was held, you will 
remember the clerks testified they were carrying mail up and down 
the road for weeks before they got it distributed. I ran on the road 
out of Chicago, and I have gone out of there west with an empty 
car, and I have gone out of there west with Marshall Field & Co.’s 
circulars piled so deep in my car that I could not have got them 
cleaned up if I had run clear to Albuquerque; consequently we had 
to bring them up and down over the road. When we started this 
thing first the clerks were inclined to take advantage of the situa¬ 
tion. They would give them the preference, or a careless clerk would 
get circulars into a terminal or into a terminal post office, and he 
would pile them up, and then some more would come in and he would 
pile those on top of the other ones, and the chances were pretty bad 
for those that were underneath. 

The general superintendent has issued an order to the superintend¬ 
ents that just as soon as circular mail is received in a terminal the 
sacks are stamped with the date and hour received and we make a 
daily report, or the clerk in charge makes a daily report, to the 
superintendent, who passes it on to the division superintendent once 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


119 


a week, showing the time those circulars were held in that terminal 
over 12 hours, or in the case of a big dispatch over 8 hours. That 
gives us a line on just where this mail is held up. I think that has 
done more tow r ard stopping the delay and the careless handling of 
circulars in terminals than anything else. I would suggest that 
postmasters be required to report how long circulars are held in 
their post offices before delivery. When the personnel of the force 
was so badly broken down they, of course, gave preference to the 
first-class mail and it would sometimes be two or three or four or 
five or six days before carriers could take out those circulars after 
they got to the final place of destination. 

They should also be required to make a report, as Mr. Costello 
says he is doing, of the number of hours circulars were in the post 
office before being distributed and sent out on the lines. I think 
some such plan as that would have a very great effect in avoiding 
many further complaints along that line. 

Mr. Burke (Burlington, Vt.). My office, being in a place of 21,000 
people, handles a large amount of this kind of mail constantly. 
During the last 18 months or two years my office, I suppose in com¬ 
mon w T ith all other offices, has been mainly handicapped with refer¬ 
ence to having efficient and sufficient help. My experience has been, 
and I have given close attention to the matter, that I have repeatedly 
gone into the workroom and found third-class matter laying there 
for days when it ought to have been distributed. I have complained 
to my assistant postmaster, who has charge of the workroom and 
whose duty it is to see that that mail is properly handled. As I 
said before, I have been obliged to repeatedly insist on having him 
give closer attention to the work of the office, with the result that 
the matter has been cleaned up and better handled. 

I want to s&y to the postmasters here present I am only now 
accusing my own office of any shortcomings. I do not know what 
takes place in your offices, but I am a little fearful that the same 
conditions that existed in my office have existed more or less in all 
the offices throughout the country. I want to say to you it has a 
mighty wholesome effect on the service rendered by having the post¬ 
master go into the workroom quite often to find out what is being 
done in the way of service. It has worked splendidly in my case. 

Mr. Brauer. Mr. Chairman, I have found that condition to exist 
in many, many offices. I am not finding any fault, because in the last 
two or three years every large office has been from 40 to 100 men short. 
It is a fact, however, that after the mail arrives at an office for de¬ 
livery the third-class mail naturally is given attention last, or being 
brought in for distribution it also remains in there. I think that 
could be stopped if the superintendent of mails made a report on the 
postmaster’s desk every morning as to how much circular mail he had 


120 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


in his office over 12 hours that had not been delivered or how much 
and of what class it was that he had in the office over 12 hours with¬ 
out distribution, and then check it down to see if the report is correct. 

Mr. Rosenberg. Gentlemen, I should like to ask whether a repre¬ 
sentative of the National Cloak & Suit Co. is present ? [No response.] 
He not being here, may I be permitted to make a few remarks in his 
behalf for the edification of these gentlemen ? 

I do not know how many circulars Marshall Field or Sears-Roebuck 
or any other mail-order concern sends out at one given time. I do 
know the National Cloak & Suit Co., when they have any large 
quantity of circulars to mail, are making that matter up into direct 
sacks, and they are making it up into route sacks. In other words, 
they make up their circular matter and their catalogue mail the same 
as the publishers who are segregating their mail in that manner. 

As a result, I think that very, very little of the National Cloak & 
Suit Co.’s circular mail or catalogue mail has to be handled in the 
post office. It is almost immediately dispatched, because it would be 
of no advantage to hold it. It would simply clog up and congest the 
office. So I might suggest, if you will permit me to do so, that these 
large mail-order concerns, large users of circular and catalogue mail, 
be induced by the publishers of these large houses, where those con¬ 
cerns do business, to cooperate to that extent. The superintendent of 
Railway Mail Service of their division will gladly furnish them with 
copies of the publishers’ schemes, and they are so arranged that almost 
anybody could separate the mail from those schemes, and if a mail¬ 
order house has a list that is generally used year in and year out, that 
list once corrected would act automatically as a separating scheme 
and would not have to be separated. I simply offer that as a sug¬ 
gestion to these mail-order concerns represented here and to the post¬ 
masters who are here, so they can take up the matter with large users 
of catalogues or circular mail in their respective cities. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, there is no question that delays occur in 
this class of mail. There is no question that we have got to put a 
hand to it and correct it so far as we possibly can, because the business 
man who sends out his mail, even though it is circular mail, is entitled 
to have prompt service. By that I do not mean special-delivery serv¬ 
ice, and I do not mean possibly the service that first-class mail gets, 
but he is certainly entitled to have good service. 

I think possibly there are three places where the delays have oc¬ 
curred. I do not want to shift any responsibility, and I am willing 
to take our share of it for the branch of the service I represent. We 
have checked up on some of these circulars and catalogues printed by 
outside firms or by publishers for firms, and we find they are not 
always mailed at the time it w T as claimed they were mailed. Of 
course, that accounts for delays in some instances. 




POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


121 


I think there are always occurring in the post office after the mail 
gets there, just as has been stated by Mr. Brauer. I think delays 
occur in these terminals. 

If it is agreeable to you gentlemen, I will take it up with the 
Second Assistant Postmaster General, and I will appoint someone, 
and I suppose he will have Mr. Brauer represent him, and we will 
draft instructions to send out in the handling of this matter, which 
I feel will put an end to it, if it is possible to do so. If that is agree¬ 
able to you, gentlemen—and I only bring this up now because we 
want to adjourn—we will take that action. If it is not, I will greatly 
appreciate it if you have any other suggestion to make, that you pre¬ 
sent your suggestions now. 

Mr. F. L. May (Dayton, Ohio). I so move, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Weaver. I second the motion. 

(The motion w 7 as carried.) 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, it is 1 o’clock, and the photographer is 
here and desires to take our photograph. I think it has been under¬ 
stood that at this time w 7 e would adjourn for that purpose and come 
back this afternoon and complete our session. [Cries of “ Go ahead, 
go ahead with the session.”] 

Mr. Miller (Fort Wayne). Mr. Chairman, if it is necessary to 
take a photograph, I move that we recess for a few moments to have 
the photograph taken and then return to this room immediately and 
finish up our meeting before we adjourn for the day. 

(The motion was unanimously carried; and at 1 o’clock p. m. a 
recess was taken for the purpose of having the conference members 
photographed, and at 1.30 o’clock p. m. the conference proceeded with 
its session, as follows:) 

Mr. Koons. Next we will take up No. 14, “ First-class matter to be 
sent to addressee instead of notifying addressee to send postage. 
Postage to be collected on delivery.” I will ask you to hear a state¬ 
ment by Gov. Dockery covering this topic. 

Mr. Dockery. Gentlemen, this suggestion, if approved, would re¬ 
quire legislation, and I think I can dispose of the proposition by 
reading a letter of the Postmaster General of March 18, 1919, ad¬ 
dressed to a Member of the House of Representatives: 

Receipt is acknowledged of your letter of the 10th instant submitting a copy 
of a report presented to the New York State Chamber of Commerce by its 
committee on internal trade and improvements relative to unstamped first-class 
mail matter, and in reply I have to say that under the existing law matter 
of the first class must be prepaid at least one full rate and all other matter 
must be fully prepaid before it may be dispatched from the office of mailing. 
The Postal Laws and Regulations provide that when matter insufficiently pre¬ 
paid is deposited for mailing it shall be held for postage and the sender so noti¬ 
fied, and given an opportunity to furnish the necessary postage. The law 
further provides that when any mail inadvertently reaches its destination 


122 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


without any prepayment of postage.whatever, double the prepaid rate shall be 
charged and collected on delivery. 

With respect to the statement and suggestions in the report submitted, which 
is herewith returned as requested, you are informed that the prepayment of 
postage on mail matter constitutes a fundamental postal principle, it having 
been adopted many years ago as the result of experience gained under laws 
permitting the payment of postage on mail matter at either the office of mail¬ 
ing or office of delivery. In order that mail may be handled and transported 
cheaply and expeditiously it is highly essential that the conditions under 
which the postal business is conducted be as simple as possible, and the pre¬ 
payment of postage is regarded as an important factor in accomplishing this 
end. 

The plan suggested of dispatching unpaid matter from the office of mailing 
and collecting the postage upon delivery to the addressee, if adopted, would 
undoubtedly result in vastly increasing the amount of unpaid and short-paid 
matter deposited for mailing, and since such matter must necessarily be given 
special treatment both at the office of mailing and at the office of address the 
proposed procedure would entail additional labor and expense, delay the 
delivery of mail materially, complicate the conduct of the business of the 
Postal Service, and at the same time offer opportunity for loss of revenue. A 
further objection is that the diversion of revenue from the office of mailing to 
the office of address would disarrange the basis upon which salaries and 
allowances in post offices are adjusted and, consequently, adversely affect the 
facilities of the mailing offices to the disadvantage of the communities they 
serve. 

The prepayment of postage as provided by the present law has proven highly 
satisfactory, and it is believed that the change suggested would not be in the 
interest of the Postal Service or of the public generally. 

I move the approval of the letter and its reference to the Bureau 
of the Third Assistant Postmaster General. 

The motion was seconded and agreed to. 

Mr. Koons. No. IT, “ Improved delivery and collection service in 
the large cities . 77 

Mr. Clore. Related to that subject somewhat, dealing with first- 
class matter and the handling of it in the “sleeper” case, is some¬ 
thing that has annoyed me a great deal. First-class matter having 
a return card on the envelope comes into an office, and evidently is 
not for that office. You know by the street number or by the name 
of the street that it is not intended for that office. We are required 
to keep that letter five days in the “ sleeper ” case back of the general 
delivery. If that letter is mailed in our city, for some one in that 
city, and has a return card, and it can not be delivered, we are re¬ 
quired to keep it five days before we can return it to the writer. 
There is no question of postage. It ought to go back to the writer 
instantly when you know that it can not be delivered. We have 
tested it out and are satisfied that that letter can not be delivered in 
that city. We inquire at the general delivery and find out whether 
anyone of that name is receiving mail, and if so it is left there. If 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


123 


not, it ought to be returned. I do not know whether it is a regula¬ 
tion or a law. 

Mr. Koons. A regulation. 

Mr. Clore. That regulation ought to be changed, because inspec¬ 
tion shows that only one-half of 1 per cent of the letters put in that 
u sleeper ” case were ever called for, but I am continually receiving 
complaints from the people whose letters have been held one day in 
the hands of the carrier, one day in the hands of the directory sec¬ 
tion, and five days in the u sleeper ” case, returning on the eighth 
day, when the letter has lost its usefulness by that time. Just to 
ascertain what would happen if we treated it in the other way, we 
have found that there are absolutely no complaints and that the 
people thank us for bringing the letters back. I do not want to say 
that I have been disobeying the orders of the department, but I will 
say that I know of an office where it was tried out and it worked 
successfully, and no complaints resulted from the return of those 
letters to the writers. 

Mr. Koons. If you will, before you leave the city, step into my 
office and dictate a little memorandum on that, I will be very glad 
to take up that amendment to the regulation, or suggest it to the 
Postmaster General, because I think you are absolutely correct. 

No. 15. Improved service in third and fourth class offices. This 
was suggested by Mr. Wynne, representing Montgomery Ward & 
Co., and we shall be glad to hear from him. 

Mr. Wynne. Mr. Chairman, most of the suggestions that have 
been made at this conference have been improvements of the service 
at the larger offices. Very little has been said about the little fel¬ 
lows, the third and fourth class postmasters. The little fellows are 
not represented at this conference, as has been suggested, and I was 
rather in sympathy with that when I had in mind the third and 
fourth class postmasters. What I do say is not in criticism at all, 
because we are so satisfied with the service as a whole that we are 
not in any mind to criticize, and I think we business representatives 
have found that you gentlemen are so thoroughly familiar with the 
service that we can offer very little by way of suggestion. 

The improvement in the service at the small offices that I have in 
mind is particularly the handling of third and fourth class mail, the 
notices that are supposed to be sent when.such matter is undeliver¬ 
able or unclaimed. We receive constantly a great many communi¬ 
cations from the people we deal with complaining about the service 
at these little offices, and occasionally we go out into the country and 
investigate for ourselves. I remember not long ago I went out to a 
little office and asked the postmaster what procedure he followed in 
handling this return mail. He said, “ Oh, I return very little mail. 
I deliver it all to somebody.” I think the lack of service there is not 


124 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


clue to any misintent of the postmaster, but clue to the fact that 
he does not understand what he is really supposed to do. It is a 
pretty hard job for him to thumb over the regulations to find out 
what he is supposed to do in certain cases, and I have two suggestions 
to make, and then I am going to close this topic. That is, if a letter 
were sent out to the fourth-class offices particularly, by the First 
Assistant Postmaster General, briefing in a way the regulations that 
apply to third and fourth class mail, I believe it would have a fine 
effect in the handling of this class of mail at these small offices. I 
have found that when these small postmasters receive a letter from 
the department they step to the music. They are not so punctual 
about trying to find out what is in the Postal Guide or the regula¬ 
tions, but they do follow any letters of instruction sent out; and I 
am sure it would result in much improvement if a letter of that kind 
could be sent out from headquarters dealing with third and fourth 
class mail, and I think it would also be a good thing if such a letter 
could be sent out by the chief inspector to the inspectors in the field, 
requesting them to pay particular attention to this class of mail in 
checking up these small offices. If it was understood by these small 
offices that there was going to be more thorough inspection of their 
methods in handling mail of this class, it would not be very long 
until all the complaints would disappear. 

With these two suggestions, I move that this topic No. 15 be re¬ 
ferred to the proper Assistant Postmaster General and the chief in- 
. spector for appropriate attention. 

(The motion was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Koons. No. 16 is another one suggested by Mr. Wynne—im¬ 
proved C. O. D. service. 

Mr. Wynne. We heard yesterday a discussion by Gov. Dockery in 
regard to the insurance service. Closely allied to that service is the 
C. O. D. service, because the C. O. D. carries with it insurance, and we 
heard how extensively the service is being used and how greatly the 
revenues of the Government have been increased as a result of it. I 
come here to ask an extension of what is already a flourishing and 
profitable venture for the Post Office Department, namely, the C. O. D. 
service. The service has already been extended to our money-order 
offices in the United States, and to every territorial and insular posses¬ 
sion of the United States, Lbelieve, with one exception, and that is the 
Philippine Islands. The Philippine Islands are a territory equal to 
the New England States, New York, and Pennsylvania, or a little 
larger than that, in fact, and with their 10,000,000 people they have 
no C. O. D. service from this country. They have a well-organized 
C. O. D. service throughout the islands, and the people over there seem 
to think they can get packages from the United States, from mer¬ 
chants over here, C. O. D. For many years we have been cultivating 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


125 


trade relations with the Philippine Islands, and our business has 
grown until the first of the year, when we felt justified in establishing 
a branch office in Manila. The venture was taken up by all the lead¬ 
ing newspapers of the Philippine Islands and hailed with acclaim, 
because they assume that they will be able to obtain merchandise such 
as is used throughout the entire United States. Since that time we 
have been getting a flood of orders and a great many of them are 
unaccompanied by remittances, but they come to us with the request 
that they be sent by parcel post C. O. D. 

About two years ago this matter was presented to the department, 
and after investigation it was turned down on the ground that the 
demand was not sufficient for the establishment of such service at that 
time. We immediately prepared a form letter to send out to each of 
these customers who wanted us to send a package C. O. D., to try to 
overcome these orders that came to us that we had to send back, with 
the explanation that the Government did not provide such service. 
But notwithstanding our efforts in that direction and the fact that 
we also make a statement in the catalogue that there is no C. O. D. 
service, these C. O. D. orders are gradually increasing, especially 
recently, since we have been establishing a branch office in the islands, 
so that I feel confident there is a demand ever growing for this service, 
and I see no reason why we should not extend the same facilities to the 
people of the Philippine Islands for trading with merchants in the 
United States that the people in Hawaii have and in Alaska and in 
other insular possessions. If the demand is not considered sufficient 
at the present time, we are willing to advertise the C. O. D. service 
at our own expense throughout the entire islands, and we will create 
a demand that will be sufficient to warrant the department in estab¬ 
lishing the service. I know that this service would be used by other 
concerns beside ourselves. The demand for anything of that kind 
usually develops after it is established. We all know that the demand 
at the present time for parcel post is 100 times what it was a year 
before the service was established, and I feel that the same would be 
true with regard to the C. O. D. service with the Philippines. 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. W. A. Curtis, vice president of Montgomery 
Ward & Co., had expected to attend this conference in person. For 
business reasons he was unable to be here, and in his absence I desire 
to present this brief statement which he had intended to bring before 
the conference. It is as follows: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : When I received, a few days ago, the invi¬ 
tation of the First Assistant Postmaster General to be present at the conference 
for the discussion and exchange of views on postal problems it suggested to me 
considerable reflection on the relations of Montgomery Ward & Co. with the 
Postal Service. 

In view of the splendid manner in which the service was maintained during 
the war, I feel that it would be justly appropriate for some time to be taken 


126 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


up in this conference with felicitations and congratulations. The postal or¬ 
ganization maintained its efficiency during the abnormal times through 
which we have just passed. It would be inappropriate for me to offer the 
few criticisms and suggestions which are to follow if I did not acknowledge 
our thorough appreciation of the fine service and splendid cooperation which 
our organization is receiving uninterruptedly from the Postal Service. 

My observations of the service have been closest at Chicago. The present 
quarters of the Chicago office are much too small for the huge volume of busi¬ 
ness carried on. The terminal stations are poorly housed and improperly 
equipped. Business concerns are at a tremendous disadvantage in making 
delivery of their parcel-post shipments because of the poor loading and un¬ 
loading facilites. I am aware that these problems are receiving very careful 
study and have no doubt that the service in time will be well provided for. 
A large, well-equipped, centrally located distributing station for parcel post 
would relieve congestion at the main post office and would be the proper step 
toward solution of the problem in Chicago. Patrons of the office are looking 
forward with eager anticipation to such improvements. 

With the increase in the weight limits of parcel post the mail-order business 
became more and more a parcel-post business, until at present approximately 
three-fourths of our shipments go forward by parcel post. The gradual im¬ 
provement in the handling of parcel post by the Railway Mail Service and 
postal employees generally has been encouraging, but there is yet room for 
improvement in the transportation of packages of a fragile nature, such as 
musical instruments, glassware, crockery, millinery, etc. 

The recent notices of the department in the Daily Bulletin instructing em¬ 
ployees of the service to handle parcel post in such manner as to avoid com¬ 
plaints seems t<' be the launching of a campaign along the proper lines for 
improved service. 

The recovery of parcel-post packages lost in the mails is a problem to which 
we have for some time been devoting considerable study. From the standpoint 
of percentages, our losses are insignificant; yet, according to our records, ad¬ 
justments with our customers for these losses amount to approximately $100,000 
yearly. It appears that a great number of these lost packages are sent to the 
dead-mail section of division headquarters of the Railway Mail Service through¬ 
out the country, and that we do not receive notice for return postage so as to 
reclaim them. I refer, of course, to packages from which the wrappers have 
been torn, the only remaining marks of identifications being our special mer¬ 
chandise brands and trade-marks. 

About two years ago postmasters at each of the division headquarters, Rail¬ 
way Mail Service, were furnished with a list of our merchandise brands and 
trade-marks and put on the mailing list for our various catalogues. These 
postmasters were requested to pay particular attention to our brands and 
trade-marks on unclaimed merchandise sent to them, so that we might have 
returned to us as much of it as possible. Some question immediately arose as to 
whether our special brands and trade-marks should be accepted as evidence 
of ownership on our part, and I believe that this uncertainty was not definitely 
settled. We believe that we are entitled to the merchandise, especially in view 
of our liberal policy of adjusting complaints. When a shipment is made by us, 
and the customer states, after waiting a reasonable time, that the goods were 
not received, we immediately make a duplicate shipment or refund the full 
amount of money. We take our chances on recovering the lost shipment. 

We shall be glad to send out a revised list of our special brands and trade¬ 
marks to be used with our catalogue in identifying merchandise lost in the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


127 


mails, and it will be greatly appreciated if some arrangement can be made 
whereby a greater share of these lost packages will be returned to our stores. 

I believe that an extension of the insurance and C. O. D. service is in 
demand and would be desirable. Some method should be provided for the col¬ 
lection of amounts exceeding $100, perhaps up to $500, through the Postal 
Service. 

If practicable, insurance should be provided for by the Government beyond 
the present maximum of $100. The rate for this protection should, of course, 
be as low as possible consistent with the safeguarding of Government revenues. 

As extensive users of the mails, it has been our experience that the service 
is very efficiently carried on in post offices of the first and second classes. How¬ 
ever, at some third-class post offices and at many offices of the fourth class 
there is room for much improvement. The personnel of the smaller offices has 
been greatly improved in recent years through a strict administration of the 
civil-service rules, yet it frequently develops that the interests of patrons 
of the service are intrusted at many of the fourth-class offices to postal em¬ 
ployees who know little of the regulations, and whose main interests are not 
in harmony with the proper administration of the Postal Laws and Regulations. 

Our mail matter receives excellent service up to the point of reaching these 
small post offices, where oftentimes all of the good work is undone by post¬ 
masters throwing our catalogues and advertising matter aside and leaving it 
unworked for a considerable time. Frequently instead of delivering the books 
to the proper addressees they are thrown in a corner and patrons of the post 
office allowed to help themselves. Often it appears that our catalogues are 
willfully not delivered, as first-class mail goes through without any trouble, but 
we are unable to get catalogues into the hands of the customers. 

At some of these small post offices we do not get the proper report on undeliv¬ 
erable mail of the third and fourth classes. We request on the wrapper notice 
in case of nondelivery and guarantee return postage on every piece of mail sent 
out. In many instances we receive no notice whatever, and there is often con¬ 
siderable delay in returning nixie mail after we have supplied the postage. 
Occasionally we send our own men out to investigate these conditions, and at 
some offices it develops that the postmaster does not have enough help to main¬ 
tain the service up to standard. 

The above outlines conditions as they have developed in our experience with 
the Postal Service. The remedies will no doubt suggest themselves. More fre¬ 
quent and thorough inspection of fourth-class post offices by post-office inspectors 
seems especially to be desirable. 

Mr. Dockery. I merely want to suggest t*hat the postal service of 
the Philippine Islands is an independent service, and if the C. O. D. 
service is established there, of course it will have to be taken up with 
the postal administration there; but in order that the suggestion may 
have fuller consideration perhaps than it has had heretofore, I move 
its reference to the Bureau of the Third Assistant. 

(The motion was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Koons. No. 17, “ Improved delivery and collection service in 
the large cities.” Will the gentleman who suggested that please tell 
us what he had in mind ? I will say for the information of the post¬ 
masters before we start to discuss this that during the war, especially 
in our collection service, we were seriously handicapped by the almost 
complete collapse of some of our conti actois to furnish us vehicles^ 


128 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


and we could not buy trucks or vehicles any place, and could not give 
them to any office because we could not get them ourselves. The Army 
had practically commandeered everything. 

Since the armistice has been signed we have made arrangements 
with the War Department to have a number of trucks turned over to 
us. I think we will be able to get whatever quantity is needed to put 
ourselves in excellent shape as far as vehicles are concerned. It is our 
intention when these vehicles are received and we can have bodies 
made for them—it is necessary to have our own screen bodies made for 
them after we get them from the War Department—to extend and 
improve the collection service immediately, as far as vehicles are con¬ 
cerned. I do not know just what may have been in the mind of the 
gentleman offering this suggestion, but I say this for the information 
of the conference. 

Mr. Jackson. I move that it be referred to the Bureau of the First 
Assistant Postmaster General. 

(The motion was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, in connection with that topic, you repre¬ 
sent the 75 largest cities in the United States, and unless you have 
already covered it in reply to our circular letter of January 21, I 
would greatly appreciate it if after you return home you will send me 
a letter stating exactly wherein the service can be improved and what 
is necessary to improve it. It is possible this was covered in your let¬ 
ters in January, and if you gentlemen representing business organi¬ 
zations have any suggestions to make, we will appreciate it very much 
if you will transmit them to us for our early consideration. 

Mr. Burton. I was going to say that the delivery service would be 
better maintained during the vacation period if our allowance covered 
a full eight-hour day. I do not know whether that has any bearing. 

Mr. Koons. Possibly that has a bearing. I will say in this con¬ 
nection that I talked to the committee the night they were consid¬ 
ering some of these topics. I happened to drop into their room and 
they brought up this question of vacation service, and I told them 
that it was difficult to get a hard and fast rule for every district 
in the city, because in some sections of the city, what you might 
call the better class residential sections, practically 75 per cent 
of the homes in particular districts are closed. Of course, it is 
necessary to rearrange the service to take care of the summer service 
in these towns. I think it can be treated as a local condition which 
we can cover by making proper allowance to the postmaster for his 
vacation service, and the one thing is to try to keep it uniform and 
not allow eight hours for everjr carrier in one city and only an aver¬ 
age of six hours for the carriers in other cities. We want to be uni¬ 
form, but to give a good service during the vacation period, and 
whatever allowance is necessary to do that we are perfectly willing 
to pay. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


129 


CLOSER COOPERATION BETWEEN POST OFFICES AND PUBLISHERS. 

Mr. Ivoons. Gentlemen, the next topic for the discussion of the 
conference is “Closer cooperation between post offices and the pub¬ 
lishers.” Whom shall we hear first on this subject? 

Mr. Rosenberg (New York). Mr. Chairman, in bringing this sub¬ 
ject before the conference it was my thought that a great deal of 
improvement can be effected by postmasters if they realize that in 
second-class mail matter which reaches their offices there are dis¬ 
tinctions in classes. I have in mind particularly the important 
business papers and next in importance I have in mind weekly maga¬ 
zines, like the Outlook, for instance, or the Literary Digest, or other 
weekly publications of that character. 

In the business field, the business paper covers a very important 
service. One of the publications that I represent is mailing, I be¬ 
lieve, according to a train schedule, the same as a daily morning 
paper would mail. The mail is, I might say, 100 per cent made up 
into direct and route, and entails very little handling in the post 
office of dispatch. 

The postmaster at New York particularly is cooperating to the 
fullest extent, I am sure, with all the publishers. I regret very much 
that all the publishers themselves are not so anxious to cooperate 
with the post office as I am sure the postmaster is to cooperate with 
them. There has unfortunately sprung up a feeling on the part of 
some publishers that no matter what they do, the result will be the 
same; but I find that when they diligently cooperate, there is a very, 
very material improvement in the service they receive. I have ab¬ 
solutely no complaint to make in regard to the additional handling 
in the dispatch of publication matter from New York City, as I am 
sure it is being handled to the very best advantage with the facilities 
available at the present time. My object in speaking of this subject 
here is to bring the matter more forcibly to the attention of other 
postmasters that receive these business papers and other weekly 
papers of news interests. 

It sometimes develops in the course of investigation that there has 
been an unusual dela}^ in delivery. Sometimes that is accounted 
for upon investigation by the fact that the publishers themselves or 
other mailers were lax, particularly when the mailers are lax the 
publishers are not informed of that fact by the mailers. I had 
instance under my own observation not long ago where I furnished 
a certain mailer with a blanket sheet on which he was to note when 
the wagon with the mail left the bindery and the time it was mailed 
at the post office. The time fitted in very nicely, and I felt perfectly 
and convinced that my train, for which the mail had been 
113522°—19-9 


sure 


130 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


scheduled, made connection; but the mailer neglected to state that 
the mailing day was a day later than my mailing date called for, so 
that my mail was really dispatched from the bindery 24 hours later 
than it should have been. 

By closer cooperation between the post office and the publisher I 
mean this: If the postmaster, according to his own knowledge and 
from the records in his office, knows that a certain publisher is due 
to mail a certain publication on a certain day, and that publication 
does not reach that postmaster on that day, it would save a great deal 
of annoyance and complaint afterwards if the publishers were 
promptly notified that the mail had not been received by the post¬ 
master on that day. It would save the publisher many hundreds of 
complaints to the various post offices and the department. In other 
words, he would be in a position to know at the outset that the fault 
was not in the post office but in his mailing division. 

In cases of that kind, when a matter of that particular moment 
comes to the notice of a postmaster or a superintendent of mails, 
they could save themselves a great deal of criticism and complaint 
by promptly getting in touch with the publisher. It may mean a 
little correspondence but it will save more in the end, and save a 
great deal of criticism that I am sure the post office and the depart¬ 
ment would labor under unjustly and have labored under unjustly 
for a long, long while. 

In my own efforts amongst publishers I have always championed 
the Postal Service. That is natural. I spent the greatest part of 
my life in it, and if my heart were larger I probably would have even 
a greater love for it than I have now. Therefore, in being invited 
here to address you gentlemen on these particular matters, I came 
with the thought that I do not want you to feel I am merely a busi¬ 
ness man or representing business interests and speaking mainly 
from the standpoint of a business corporation or a business firm. 
My interests, I might say, arc 90 per cent post-office interests. 

I am sure that the postmasters and other representatives of the 
Post Office Department here will all have gained considerable knowl¬ 
edge from this conference and will have a kindlier feeling toward 
one another, a kindlier feeling toward and a greater interest in the 
business men and business interests of the country. 

Some of the publishers I have known have spent thousands of dol¬ 
lars in order to cooperate with the Post Office Department, and this 
money was practically wasted on account of their really not under¬ 
standing what effect their work would have. Many publishers have 
elaborate mailing machines and elaborate mailing lists that really 
get them nowhere, and I am sure that wherever there are large 
publishing interests the postmasters can. with verv material ad- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 131 

vantage and benefit to the service and to the publishers, get closer 
cooperation that will count. 

Mr. Koons. Has anyone present any suggestions to make in con¬ 
nection with this topic which has been so thoroughly covered by Mr. 
Rosenberg? After you get back home, Mr. Rosenberg, if you will 
transmit to me briefly your idea with reference to this method of co¬ 
operation I shall draw the necessary instructions and send them out 
to the postmasters. If there is nothing further to be said on this 
subject, we will proceed to the consideration of the next topic. 

GOVERNMENT-OWNED MOTOR-VEHICLE SERVICE. 

Mr. Koons. The next subject for discussion is No. 20, “ Govern¬ 
ment-owned motor-vehicle service, its advancement and increase.” 

What I said in relation to the City Delivery Service applies to a 
certain extent to this subject. This was one of the weakest points in 
our service during the war—our screen-wagon service, and especially 
the service that was under contract. Some of those contracts were 
entered into three or four years ago. Costs in the meantime have 
become almost prohibitive, and before we could get any relief by 
legislation a number of the contractors failed, and we had to turn 
the service over to the bonding company or the surety, if it were a 
personal surety, and if some relief had not been afforded by Congress, 
I think the bonding companies themselves would have failed. We 
are now issuing requests for bids for one section, and in the mean¬ 
time getting these trucks from the Army just as rapidly as we can, 
and as quickly as we can have the bodies built for putting the service 
in effect in the cities where it is the worst at this time we shall do so. 
We hope that within six months, or nine months at the outside, we 
shall have this motor service working where w T e have horse-drawn 
vehicles at this time, and get up-to-date, new equipment in prac¬ 
tically every city in the United States. If there is anything that 
statement does not cover which any of you gentlemen have in mind, 
I shall be glad to have it brought out by you at this time. 

Mr. Burton (Brooklyn). I should just like to say, Mr. Chairman, 
from experiences with the two systems, that I am in favor of the 
Government owned, and the faster and further it can be pushed 
the better. I am sure every man who gets it in his office wfill feel 
he had his work very greatly strengthened by the introduction of the 
Government-owned plan. 

Mr. Clore (Cincinnati). I want to thank you, Mr. Koons, from 
Cincinnati, for what you have done for us down there. We have the 
finest lot of automobiles and service under that plan that I ever saw. 
We have splendid Government-owned trucks operating on schedule 
and handling the mail in a perfectly satisfactory manner. 


132 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Mr. Shannon (Nashville). We have had both, and T would not 
swap for anything. We have a little trouble with chauffeurs, on 
account of high cost, etc., but aside from that I would not exchange 
for anything. 

Mr. Koons. I think our experiments, especially during the war, 
demonstrated we should extend this service as rapidly as possible. 
Inasmuch as we can get trucks from the War Department, it is an 
opportune time to extend it. I said six months. We had included in 
our deficiency estimates an item of $300,000 for bodies for these 
trucks, but Congress may eliminate, so we can not be assured of 
obtaining some of the bodies we would have bought until after the 
1st of July. We will order them just as quickly as we can get them, 
and then in connection with that we are designing a new body 
which I think will be better adapted to our purposes, much easier to 
keep clean, and will be much more satisfactory, and can be repainted 
much easier. 

If there is nothing further to be said on this topic, we will pro¬ 
ceed to the next one. 


EARLY DEPOSITS OF MAIL. 


Mr. Koons. The next subject on the program for discussion is 

Early deposits of mail by business interests in order to give the 
post office time to work the mail for early dispatch.” 

I wish Mr. De Berard would favor us with a few remarks on that 
subject. 

Mr. De Berard. I will not touch upon the difficulties of inducing 
business men to readjust their office schedule in such manner as to 
materially expedite the outflow of mail by arranging particular hours 
of delivery. I think it is done as much as is practicable now. In 
many cases it is wholly impracticable. In the case of banks, for 
example, the outgo of daily mail can only begin after the morning’s 
receipts have been received and recorded and entered. It is therefore 
only in the afternoon that the preparation of that sort of mail can 
very actively be taken up. Nevertheless, there is a very considerable 
body of mail which could be so arranged as to be expedited and 
mailed at various periods during the day in order to reduce the con¬ 
gestion which arises from mailing the entire body at one time. 

As a practical suggestion looking toward that, it seems to me that 
if the postmasters in each of the important cities were to prepare 
and widely circulate to business houses schedules showing the train 
departures of all the trains moving in each of the principal direc¬ 
tions, informing the business houses of the closing hours of the mail 
and bringing to their knowledge the fact that unless their mails for 
a given direction are deposited in the office by a specified hour there 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


133 


w ill be a material delay in its movement, oftentimes extending over- 
right, so that mail mailed in the afternoon late, as at present, by 
reason of being put in the office after the train has departed, can 
not move until the following day; that if those essential facts were 
brought forcibly to the attention of the business houses it would 
result in the preparation of mailing schedules and stenographers’ 
schedules in the offices in such way as materially to promote the 
frequent movement of outgoing mail in conformity to the hours so 
laid down. 

The average business man does not now appreciate the great im¬ 
portance of adjusting his mailing with reference to outgoing trains. 
If he happens to be engaged in foreign business he always has before 
him a schedule of time of sailings of the steamships, and there is 
no busier place than a big importing or exporting house on Friday, 
when they are writing their mails and rushing them to catch a 
steamer about to sail. The same incentive could be supplied to mer¬ 
chants w hose mail is carried almost Avholly by the railroad trains if 
they were given the necessary information and had impressed upon 
them, through the medium of a circular letter sent out by the post¬ 
master, the importance of complying w T ith the suggestions contained 
in that circular of information. If mail is delayed 12 or 24 hours in 
delivery even they are apt to blame it on the post office, when, in fact, 
it proceeds from a delay on his part to fail to get the letters in the 
mail in time to catch trains for expeditious movement. I think the 
postmasters throughout the country could inaugurate some such 
movement for disseminating information, and it Avould inevitably 
have very good results. 

Mr. Clore (Cincinnati). We have found by giving these sched¬ 
ules to the larger mailers in Cincinnati, Avho have mails for New 
York, for instance, that if they will get the mail in by noon it will be 
received in New’ York the next morning, while if they Avait until late 
in the afternoon when the stenographer is going home from the office 
the mail will be delayed in New' York City 24 hours, just by being 
delayed in their office three or four hours, that it brings about very 
good results. They are responding to those suggestions very nicely. 

Mr. George C. Straud (Rochester, N. Y.). Over a year ago, Mr. 
Chairman, I arranged w ith a committee of the chamber of commerce 
to visit my post office under these circumstances. After working for 
about tAVOmonths I found they were holding all their mail until the 
close of business in the evening, wdien they would turn in anywhere 
from 75,000 to 100,000 pieces of mail. I asked them then, as a matter 
of favor to me personally, to turn in a portion of their mail by noon. 
Thev did for a while, and then Avent back into the same old rut. I 
invited them to come to the office and insisted upon them waiting to 
see exactly what condition we Avere in during the evening. They 


134 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


came, and I found after getting the committee right there in my 
office and showing them exactly what the condition of the office was 
at that hour of the day that it made a very great impression upon 
them, and the result a very good improvement in the service they gave 
us, which naturally enabled us to give them improved service. At 
the present time I am receiving about TO per cent of my mail during 
the day. If you will take this matter up with the chamber of com¬ 
merce and get them to come to your office and show them the condi¬ 
tions prevailing there, it will impress them more than you can pos¬ 
sibly impress them by going or talking to them or writing. I find 
that it has made a very great difference in Rochester at the present 
time. 

Mr. Davis (Roanoke, Va.). Mr. Chairman, to my mind that is a 
matter of education by the postmaster. When I took charge of the 
office that I have under control I found 80 per cent of the mail was 
mailed at my office between 5 o’clock and T o’clock in the afternoon. 
The consequence w 7 as that we were very much congested, and it was 
very hard work for us to get rid of that mail in time for the midnight 
trains, and sometimes we had to leave some of it over. I was a mer¬ 
chant before I became postmaster, and was a member of the mer¬ 
chants’ association and the chamber of commerce. I appeared before 
the merchants’ association and also the chamber of commerce and the 
rotary club and explained the condition of things and asked if they 
would not deposit their mail at noon, and if they w T ould not face the 
letters all one way and tie a string around the package, so that all 
that was necessary was to run the letters through the canceling ma¬ 
chine and have them ready for dispatching. The offices of the Norfolk 
& Western Railway are in my town. I went to them, and I had a hard 
matter to get them to do what I wanted them to do. When December 
came I w r ent before the rotary club, and it happened that the presi¬ 
dent of the Norfolk & Western Railway Co. was a guest of the rotary 
club. I said to myself: “ This is my opportunity to reach the head 
of that big organization.” So I pointed out specifically to him my 
need from his department. After I explained the thing he said to me: 
“ I did not know what this meant to the post office. I will see that 
what you want is done.” The mail from that company, which comes 
by sacks and sacks, used to come all dumped in in any form, but now 
it comes to me faced up and tied up. It saves anywhere from an hour 
to two hours’ work of two clerks preparing the letters for cancella¬ 
tion. The president of the road has visited my office several times. 
He has said, “ How is the mail coming up? ” I said, “ Mr. Johnson, 
it is in fine shape,” and it is still continuing in that way. I think it is 
a matter of education about things of this character. 

Mr. Chance. I will state for this post office here that we prepared 
a list showing the time of arrival at the principal cities of the United 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


135 


States of mail that was deposited in our letter boxes before 12 o'clock 
and before 2 o’clock and at 4 p. m., and then between 6 and 8 p. m., 
and it shows a difference in the delivery in some cities of a full day. 
I took that before the chamber of commerce, and they published it 
in their paper, and then the table was copied in the daily papers here. 
It has resulted in great improvement in our service. 

Mr. Koons. I think this is purely a question of education. I be¬ 
lieve the business men are willing to cooperate with us if we go about 
it in the right way. I think the one mistake that the department 
has made in its campaigns heretofore has been that we were always 
urging early mailing and at frequent intervals throughout the day. 
Now, it is impossible for a business man to stop to sign a letter every 
time a stenographer gets through with it and rush it off to the post 
office. Last year we started a campaign on early mailing, and I 
took it up with the United States Chamber of Commerce here in 
Washington and found that they were very anxious to cooperate with 
us in the matter. Instead of asking them to mail at short intervals 
throughout the day we asked them if they would urge their members 
to sign their mail twice a day—that is, at lunch and in the evening—- 
and send them out twice daily. They gave quite a lot of publicity 
to it in their publication. I believe they even issued a special letter 
on it, and we then sent a letter ourselves to the postmasters, telling 
them that the circular bad been issued by the United States Chamber 
of Commerce and urging the postmasters to take it up with the busi¬ 
ness organizations of their towns. Now, I think the idea suggested 
by Mr. De Berard, and which Mr. Chance has found so successful 
here in Washington, is an excellent idea. Some of the larger organi¬ 
zations have printing plants, and of those that do not have printing 
plants a number of them have mimeographs. I think chambers of 
commerce and business organizations would be only too glad to give 
a great deal of publicity to a circular such as Mr. Chance mentions. 

In addition to these means of advertising this proposition, calling 
it to the attention of the business men, I took it up with the letter car ¬ 
riers. I made this appeal to them, “ That as much mail as you can 
get mailed during the day, and as much as you can advance the mail, 
that much night work you take off the employees.” It immediately 
struck a responsive chord with every letter carrier, and we induced 
them to conduct a campaign with the mailers on their routes, suggest¬ 
ing to them that they mail twice a day. It is no use to start on a prop¬ 
osition of this kind unless you keep it up. It is something you must 
keep continually before your patrons, especially the large mailers and 
your business men to whom the mail is very important. Half an 
hour’s difference in the mailing of a letter may mean 24 hours’ time 
in the delivery. There is no business man who would fail to take an 
interest in the matter if he knew it would advance the delivery of let- 


136 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


ters 24 hours. If you men will take this up and conduct an active 
campaign along the lines outlined here, I am sure you will secure 
the heartiest kind of cooperation with your business organizations 
and your business people generally, and I think you will obtain 
splendid results. In the meantime we will do a little pushing from 
this end of the line and see if we can help it. 

Unless there is something more we will pass over that. 

Mr. Burke (Burlington, Vt.). Just for information on this sub¬ 
ject, there are five banks in nry 7 city. I visited each bank and asked 
them what complaint, if an}q they had of the local service, or other¬ 
wise. Two of those banks—the Howard National and the Merchants’ 
National—are connected with the Federal reserve. They were the 
only two that had any serious complaints to offer. They claimed 
that their mail in coming from Boston was quite often not delivered 
until the afternoon delivery when it should be delivered in the morn¬ 
ing. The cashier of the Merchants’ Bank was very frank and open 
with reference to where the trouble lay in his opinion, and he at¬ 
tributed it to the late mailing on the part of the reserve people at 
Boston. 

The representative of the Howard National had no information 
as to where the blame lay, but they both claimed that it was very 
important to them, for they had to make close connections and had 
to keep in close contact with the reserve people in Boston. I may 
say in connection with that that owing to the delay of one letter that 
the Merchants’ National Bank had received, they had been penalized 
to the extent of between $7 and $8. I give that as an instance. 

Mr. Koons. There is another question in connection with this, be¬ 
fore we pass it, that I intended to mention, and I think it would be 
well for postmasters to call this to the attention of business men. 
Where we are weak, or where we make mistakes and it is our fault, I 
do not hesitate to admit it, and I am willing to do anjlhing on earth 
to correct it. But there is one thing that is rather unfortunate in the 
handling of the mail by a great many business people. No matter 
how valuable the mail is or how important it is, and we do the same 
thing in the department here, the carrying of the mail to the letter 
box or to the post office is usually left to one of the lowest salaried 
employees. They will rush all day to get the mail written and 
signed, but after that is done nobody looks after getting it into the 
letter box or the post office. I have come down to my own office early 
in the morning and found important letters that were left there the 
night before for the messenger to put in the mail, and he had gone 
away and forgotten them, or something of that kind. I am sure that 
same thing occurs in a great many business houses, and I think if you 
men would impress on the business men the importance of making it 
somebody’s business to see that their mail is sealed and delivered at 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 137 

the post office promptly, you will render a great service to tlic busi¬ 
ness public and it will eliminate some of our complaints of delay. 

The same thing is true in getting the mail from the post office. I 
remember one time when I was an inspector, a large publishing house 
complained about some one tampering with their mail, and we made 
arrangements to test. It was clear, as soon as we saw the envelopes, 
that it was some one connected with their own establishment. We 
made arrangements to test the boy who went after the mail, and they 
told us the exact hour that he went. All the letters that were in the 
box at the post office were withdrawn at five minutes to 2 and the test 
letters put in. The boy was to call for the mail at 2. I went down to 
the office of this publishing house, and the boy came in about half 
past 2. He was asked for the mail and turned it over, and he did not 
have any of our letters, but had a lot of others. We called up the 
post office, and the} 7 said the boy had not even been there. So I asked 
him where he got the mail. He said “At the post office.” 1 ask him 
what time he got it, and he said he got it at 11 o'clock that morning. 
He had been playing on the street ever since. It just shows—and any 
inspector could testify to hundreds and hundreds of instances of 
that kind—that the mail is handled in the most careless manner, both 
in taking it to the post office and bringing it from the post office. I 
do not mention this with any idea of shifting any responsibility from 
ourselves, but it would help the business men if you men in a diplo¬ 
matic way would call their attention to the importance of seeing that 
the mail gets to the letter box or to the post office promptly, and that 
they are sure it reaches there. 

The next subject is rather long, submitted by the superintendents 
of the 15 divisions of the Railway Mail Service, all of which meets 
with the approval of the committee, who have had that up with the 
Second Assistant Postmaster General. It is a matter that is entirely 
administrative between our two bureaus, and if it is satisfactory to 
the conference we will take the necessary steps to work that out and 
put it into effect. 

The next is a suggestion regarding older employees, a matter which 
has been fully discussed by postmasters with me at times as they 
have visited the office. It is a matter that has been considered for 
years; a matter which, of course, is one of the things in this report 
that should have the approval of the conference, and if it is satisfac¬ 
tory we will pass that over, with the understanding that you approve 
of that suggestion. I am doing this to make time, because I know 
some of you want to get away. 

The next is closer cooperation between the postmasters and the 
business organizations; also the publishers’ associations. I think by 
the different statements that have been made by the department and 
by the postmasters since they have been here on the one side, and the 


138 


POSTAL. BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


representatives of the business organizations on the other, that there 
is an earnest desire on both sides to cooperate and work together for 
the betterment of the Postal Service. From the very hearty coopera¬ 
tion that these business men have given me personally since they have 
been here, I know that they will gladly do it. I know that the post¬ 
masters will gladly do it. I know it is your duty to do it. So if 
it meets with the approval of the conference, unless there is something 
that I have not noticed, we will understand that that has the ap¬ 
proval of this conference, and we will take steps to instruct the post¬ 
masters to put that into effect. Is that satisfactory to you ? 

Mr. De Beraed. Perfectly. 

Mr. Kooxs. The next is inadequate and slow train service—broken 
connections. Unless one of you gentlemen from the Bailway Mail 
Service wish to discuss this, I suggest the appointment of a committee. 
I have discussed it with the Second Assistant this morning, and he 
asked me to say that if there was a vote taken on this matter not 
to restrict us to the persons mentioned in the report, because it is 
our disposition to give the business organizations a greater repre¬ 
sentation on this committee than is outlined here, and it is our idea 
to select representatives from the business organizations to a larger 
extent than is suggested here. 

Mr. Schmidt. It is my understanding that we are to have a con¬ 
ference at Mr. Praeger’s office at 4 o’clock. 

Mr. Brauer. The matter came up by complaint, from the post¬ 
master at Hofyoke, Mass., and the complaints of the postmasters at 
Toledo and Indianapolis, and complaints by the superintendent of 
the first division. The matter is general though—inadequate train 
service. The representative of Marshall Field & Go. complained that 
train 26—that is the fast mail from Nebraska—arrived at Chicago 
now at 10.30 a. m., as against 7.30 a. m. about a year ago. What he 
did not complain of was the fact that that train leaves San Francisco 
eight hours earlier than it did a year ago and arrives at Chicago 
four hours later. Of course these slow train schedules were put on 
and the fast trains were taken off at a time when the roads were con¬ 
gested with freight. That condition is relieved now, and it is sug¬ 
gested that a committee be appointed to handle these matters with 
the Railroad Administration. 

Mr. Ivoons. I think that is one of the most important subjects, if 
not the most important subject that is mentioned in this report. I 
think it has been the cause of slowing up the mail service more than 
any one thing we have had to contend with, and I think it is a most 
important matter. I think the stronger we can impress or the more 
we can impress the Railroad Administration with the necessity of 
taking some action on it, toward putting in satisfactory schedules, 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


139 


the better it will be for the mail service. It was the idea of the Sec- 
ond Assistant when he spoke to me this morning to appoint a com¬ 
mittee—we may enlarge it some—and we want to give business men 
more representation than this report suggests. So, if that meets 
with your approval, we will pass that. 

I believe that concludes the subjects in this report. 

Before we leave the report I desire to express my appreciation of 
the work of this committee, who have worked so hard and faithfully 
in this matter, which has expedited our work very much. The sugges¬ 
tions they have brought in with this report that are not already 
covered will be referred to the proper bureaus and will be taken up 
for consideration just as soon as we can get to it, within a couple of 
days. 

Now, a great many of you after you go home will think of matters 
that you would have liked to bring up here. That applies to the 
business men as well as to the postmasters and Railway Mail Serv¬ 
ice or inspectors. If anything occurs to you that you would have 
liked to bring to our attention, I will greatly appreciate it if you 
will submit it to me within the next week or 10 days. If you have 
any doubt as to which bureau it belongs to, if you will send it to 
me I will see that it gets to the proper bureau for consideration. 
So if there are topics that we have not discussed or taken up and 
that are not included in those that were before the committee, do 
not feel that you have lost the opportunity to take them up, because 
if you write to us and set them forth, we will give them the same care¬ 
ful consideration as though we had taken them up here. 

Mr. Schmidt. Before we adjourn I want to say that Mr. Fairfield 
is representing Chicago interests here. I am representing an indi¬ 
vidual firm. For that reason I have not had very much to say; but 
I want to express to you my appreciation for inviting me into this 
conference, and also to the postmasters for the consideration shown 
us. 

Mr. Koons. There are two letters that have been passed up to me. 
One is from the superintendent of the supply division, in which he 
calls attention to the necessity for conserving the twine stocks during 
the balance of the current fiscal year. That applies to postmasters 
and to the Railway Mail Service, and is due to the failure of the 
deficiency bill to pass Congress. Now, of course, there will be an¬ 
other session of Congress, but we do not know when that will be 
called, and we do not know how soon the deficiency bill will pass 
after it is called. So that if it does not pass until the 15th or 20th 
of June, we will have but little opportunity to buy twine to help us 
out this year. It is only because of the failure of the deficiency bill 


140 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


to pass that we call this to your attention. Have you put instructions 
on this in the Bulletin, Mr. Denning? 

Mr. Denning. Yes. 

Mr. Koons. Another matter lias been passed up to me by the Third 
Assistant’s office, relative to stamped envelopes. This is based on 
the replies that were received to our letters to the merchants. It, is 
as follows: 

STAMPED ENVELOPES. 


Recently the First Assistant Postmaster General, through the postmasters, 
invited service criticism and suggestions from business concerns. In response 
to that invitation several complaints, have been received of delay in filling 
orders for special-request stamped envelopes. 

The stamped-envelope factory is located in Dayton, Ohio. At the time of the 
Dayton flood, in 1913, the city was plunged into the depths of industrial depres¬ 
sion. Afterwards it became a very large munitions center, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, the town fortunately went to the other extreme of commercial activity 
and prosperity. 

This condition, however, had the effect of creating a tremendous demand for 
labor in Dayton, so that the stamped-envelope factory lost more than half of 
its operating force of 500 people. Also, the factory experienced great difficulty 
in obtaining paper and other materials for the manufacture of envelopes. These 
conditions caused the factory to fall behind in filing orders until at one time 
it was two months in arrears. 

The situation has now improved, however, and a report received to-day shows 
the factory to be only 11 business days behind. Undoubtedly it will soon be 
current in its work. 

OFFICE-REQUEST ENVELOPES. 

Among other effects of the unfavorable conditions which have prevailed, it 
became necessary to suspend temporarily the production of office-request en¬ 
velopes—those which bear a blank return card. This was done so that the 
whole manufacturing energy of the plant could be devoted to production of 
plain and special-request envelopes. But the department expects to resume 
production of office-request envelopes within a few weeks, and will then fill the 
accumulated requisitions of postmasters in their turn. 

AVe have had the proceedings of our conference reported, and as 
soon as we can get the notes transcribed we intend to have them 
published. I intend to send them not only to the postmasters who are 
here, but to those at tlie presidential offices, because the matters we 
have discussed affect their offices principally. 

Jn addition to that we intend to send the published proceedings to 
all the post-office inspectors, the Railway Mail Service, and all the 
business organizations. AA T e will try to make arrangements to give 
the business organizations quantities of them for their distribution. 

In closing I desire again to thank you, and I want the business or¬ 
ganizations, not only those represented here but those throughout the 
United States, to feel that they are at liberty at all times to take up 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


141 


matters with us, anti we are always glad to receive them at the depart¬ 
ment and show them what we have. Our doors are not locked. We 
are glad to see you at any time. Not even the Postmaster GeneraPs 
door is locked. If you do not believe it, come down with a subpoena 
to serve on him, and you can walk right in. That has occurred twice 
recently. 

Mr. Clore. I was instructed to prepare a resolution in behalf of the 
boys in the Postal Service who did the war w T ork. I have prepared 
that resolution, but it has not been formally passed. I would like to 
offer it now 7 : 

Resolved by this conference , That the great armies of railway mail clerks, 
field men in the post-office inspection department, rural and city mail carriers, 
and post-office clerks are entitled to, and we hereby extend to these employees, 
our high appreciation of their untiring efforts to render the Postal Service 
efficient. 

AVe extend our thanks to these employees for their uniform courtesy to the 
public and to their superiors, for their patriotism and devotion to duty at all 
times, especially during the stress of war, and for the splendid manner in which 
they uncomplainingly bore their added burdens during this trying period. 

Mr. Koons. Gentlemen, you have heard the resolution. What is 
your pleasure ? 

(The resolution was seconded and agreed to.) 

Mr. Clore. In order that this will wind up with something we 
started out with, I have a little matter I Avant to present. 

In changes of address, Ave have a form 22 that is filled out by the 
person wanting his address changed. Then we make out tAvo cards 
and send one to the last address and one to the carrier of the present 
address and each carrier O. K.’d the card sent him and the two 
cards come back and are filed. Instead of doing that at our office 
we send out the one card and the carrier of the old address O. K.’s 
it opposite the old address, and then Ave have on the same card the 
carrier of the neAV address O. Iv. it opposite the neAV address, and 
in that Avay we have only one card to carry instead of the two and 
haA'e the entire record on one card. 

Mr. Koons. I will ask Mr. Clore to give me that card and I will 
take the matter up. I think the suggestion is a good one. 

ALLOTMENT CHECKS. 

Mr. Miller (Fort Wayne). Mr. Chairman, w T e had an order issued 
on allotment checks. I have a great deal of trouble as to the return 
of allotment checks on the change of addresses. We lnwe instances 
like a person coming into the office with a change of address Avhen 
thoA T are going aA\ T ay for a Aveek or tAvo AA^eeks. They do not say the 
change is permanent. According to instructions Ave must either 


142 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


forward tlie allotment check where it is not a permanent address, 
or return it to the Treasury Department. What are we to do about 
that? 

Mr. Koons. If you will write me your suggestion on that whole 
matter, Mr. Miller,-1 shall be very glad to look into it carefully. 

Just before we adjourn, gentlemen, Mr. Weaver spoke of some¬ 
thing last night which I had intended to mention to-day, and that 
is that we have not invited any fourth-class postmasters or any of 
the postmasters at small offices. Our only reason for it w T as that we 
were without funds to bring those people here. It is rather a deli¬ 
cate proposition to bring postmasters here and expect them to pay 
the expenses of this sort of a trip. We called this conference as 
early as we could, because we know the different States hold their 
State association meetings and that they will all meet within the 
next two or three months. We asked for representatives from each 
State, and I think there are 42 States represented here. At the 
time when these conventions meet in your home States, I shall ap¬ 
preciate it very much if the postmaster wdio is here from any 
State will endeavor to attend that convention and explain to all the 
postmasters present what we tried to do here, so they will get as 
much benefit of this conference as possible. 

Mr. May (Dayton). I want to offer a suggestion to all these post¬ 
masters before we adjourn. We had a committee of postmasters 
from the State of Ohio to meet the Postmaster General, Mr. Burle¬ 
son, just after v 7 e had our photograph taken to-day. We suggested 
that it w T ould be a good thing—and I want to get the idea before all 
these postmasters—for the general to come to Columbus and give 
one evening to speak before all the postmasters of two or three 
States there and get back to his work the next day. I thought that 
the First Assistant Postmaster General certainly had enough in¬ 
fluence with Gen. Burleson that he might try it for us in Ohio. They 
have experimented on some of these various propositions and are 
going to try others, something for Brooklyn, something for St. 
Louis, and something for Baltimore. Why not try that with us 
out in Ohio—because if Gen. Burleson could make a speech to the 
postmasters of Ohio like he made here the other afternoon—and we 
would have at that meeting postmasters from Indiana and from the 
southern part of Michigan and the western part of Pennsylvania and 
some from Kentucky—it would be the finest experiment that could 
be tried, and that w r ould be the best place for the experiment in the 
world. I just want to mention that proposition here with a view 
of inviting every one of you postmasters here to keep buttonholing 
Gen. Burleson, and Gen. Koons, too, before he gets out of the door 
of this room this afternoon—and tell Gen. Koons that it w’as a good 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 143 

suggestion, and lie must insist on having Gen. Burleson come to 
Columbus, Ohio, on the 23d or 24th of May. [Applause.] 

Mr. George F. Parrish (Toledo). Right in that connection, Mr. 
Chairman, I wish there was some way possible to induce Gen. Burle¬ 
son to come to each of our conventions. The press of Ohio, or at least 
a portion of it, has been very boldly against Gen. Burleson, against 
the Post Office Department, and against the whole administration. 
Some of the dirtiest editorials that have ever been written any place 
in the United States have been written in some of the press of Ohio. 
I feel that he owes it to himself and he owes it to this administration, 
if it is possible for him to do it, to go before the people of Ohio and 
give them the facts as he presented them to us yesterday. In our end 
of the State I know the press will not handle it. I do not know how 
it is in other parts of the State, but I am sure the Toledo papers, all 
of which have been exceptionally bitter against Gen. Burleson, would 
not handle it at all. I have never seen a word of commendation of 
him in the Cleveland papers, but I believe that if he could get out 
there and make that same speech in Columbus, there is enough in¬ 
fluence there that is friendly to his methods of doing business to get 
it in the Columbus press, which circulates all over not only Ohio, but 
a great portion of three of four other States. I do believe that he 
could do the Post Office Department more good by going there and 
making an address, or repeating the address he made here, than by 
anything else he could do. 

Mr. Myers (Portland, Oreg.). In line with the suggestion of Mr. 
Parrish, which I think is a good one, I want to make a motion that it 
is the sense of the postmasters and postal officials in attendance at 
this conference that great good to the Postal Service and postal rela¬ 
tions between the Postal Service and the business interests of the 
country can be established and promoted if the Postmaster General 
will make a tour of some of the larger cities of the country and ad¬ 
dress the public bodies in those cities. I move that be the sense of 
the postal officials and others here present, and that we urge him to 
visit some of the larger cities and address public gatherings there. 

Mr. Weaver. I do not think that has anything to do with the busi¬ 
ness of this conference, and I move that we adjourn. 

Mr. Clore. I second the motion. 

Mr. Koons. Unless there is something further to come before the 
conference, that motion is in order. 

(Thereupon, at 3.20 o’clock p. m. the motion was unanimously 
carried and the conference adjourned sine die.) 


144 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


LIST OF PERSONS ATTENDING APRIL 1 TO 3, INCLUSIVE. 

John C. Koons, First Assistant Postmaster General. 

Otto Praeger, Second Assistant Postmaster General. 

Alexander M. Dockery, Third Assistant Postmaster General. 

James I. Blakslee, Fourth Assistant Postmaster General. 

REPRESENTATIVES OF BUSINESS FIRMS AND ORGANIZATIONS. 

United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington: D. A. Skinner. 

Sears, Roebuck & Co., Chicago, 111.: A. P>. Schmidt, general traffic manager. 
Montgomery Ward & Co., Chicago, Ill.: W. A. Curtis, C. M. Wynne. 

Marshall Field & Co., Chicago, Ill.: W. F. Hypes. 

National Cloak & Suit Co,, New York: Mr. R. J. Raney. 

The Charles Williams Stores, New York, N. Y.: J. C. Beckley, C. C. French. 
Merchants’ Association, New York, N. Y.: F. B. De Berard, Mr. Farlmer. 
Chicago Association of Commerce, Chicago, Ill.: B. L. Fairfield.. 

Publishers’ Postal Service, New York, N. Y.: George Rosenberg. 

American Bankers’ Association: C. J. Bell, Washington, D. C. 


POST-OFFICE INSPECTORS IN CHARGE. 


Atlanta division, C. Riddiford. 

Austin division, Charles B. Anderson. 

Boston division, H. B. Mosby. 

Chattanooga division, J. W. Cole. 

Chicago division, James E. Stuaft. 

Cincinnati division, T. M. Diskin. 

Denver division, George Daniel. 

Kansas City division, Joe P. Johnston. 

Philadelphia division, George A. Leonard. 

St. Louis division, Iv. P. Aldrich. 

St. Paul division, Rush D. Simmons. 

San Francisco division, Stephen II. Morse. 

Spokane division, Robert IT. Barclay. 

Washington division, Smith AY. Purdum. 

DIVISION SUPERINTENDENTS, RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE. 

Christopher Reising, first division, Boston, Mass. 

W. R. Riddell, acting, second division, New York, N. Y. 

Aleyne A. Fisher, third division, AAYishington, D. C. 

Richmond J. Harris, fourth division, Atlanta, Ga. 

John Clark, fifth division, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Frank McFarland, sixth division, Chicago, Ill. 

James H. Musgrave, seventh division, St. Louis, Mo. 

F. I. R. Moore, assistant, representing eighth division, San Francisco, Calif. 
Charles V. McChesney, ninth division, Cleveland, Ohio. 

M. J. Wolf, acting, tenth division, St. Paul, Minn. 

Samuel M. Gaines, eleventh division, Fort AA T orth, Tex. 

Robert M. Thomas, twelfth division, New Orleans, La. 

Roscoe C. Knox, thirteenth division, Seattle, AA T ash. 

Rudolph S. Brauer, fourteenth division, Omaha, Nebr. 

Charles D. Rogers, fifteenth division, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE 


145 


POSTMASTERS. 


Alabama: Birmingham, R. B. Smyer. 
Arkansas: Little Rock, W. E. Floyd. 
California: Los Angeles, Harrington 
Brown. 

Connecticut: 

Hartford, D. A. Wilson. 

New Haven, Philip Troup. 
Delaware: Wilmington, J. J. English. 
District of Columbia: Washington, M. 

O. Chance. 

Georgia: 

Atlanta, Bolling H. Jones. 
Savannah, Marion Lucas. 

Illinois: Chicago, W. B. Carlile. 
Indiana: 

Fort Wayne, E. C. Miller. 
Indianapolis, It. E. Springsteen. 
Iowa: 

Des Moines, G. A. Huffman. 

Sioux City, J. F. Kerberg. 
Kentucky : Louisville, E. T. Schmitt. 
Louisiana: New Orleans, Charles Jan¬ 
vier. 

Maine: 

Augusta, F. W. Plaisted. 

Bangor, William F. Curran. 
Portland, Oscar It. Wish. 
Maryland: 

Baltimore, Sherlock Swann. 
Cumberland, F. It. Beall. 
Massachusetts: 

Boston, W. E. Hurley (acting). 
Holyoke, J. J. O'Donnell. 
Lawrence, M. F. Cronin. 

Lynn, E. S. Higgins. 

Springfield, T. J. Costello. 
Worcester, J. F. Healy. 

Michigan: 

Detroit, W. J. Nagel. 

Grand Rapids, C. E. Hogadone. 
Jackson, John E. Shekel 1. 
Minnesota: 

Minneapolis, E. A. Purdy. 

St. Paul, Otto N. Raths. 
Mississippi: Jackson, Thomas P. Barr. 
Missouri: 

Kansas City, Baylis Steele. 
Mexico, W. R. Jackson. 

Rolla, B. H. Rucker. 

St. Louis. Colin M. Selnh. 

113522 °--19-10 


Montana : Butte, Philip B. D. Goodwin. 
Nebraska: Omaha, Charles E. Fanning. 
New Hampshire: Manchester, John R. 
Willis. 

New Jersey: 

Atlantic City, William B. Louden- 
slager. 

Jersey City, M. C. Ely. 

Newark, J. J. Sinnott (acting). 
New York: 

Albany, W. II. Murray. 
Binghamton, F. M. Hopkins. 
Brooklyn, W. C. Burton. 

Buffalo, George J. Meyer. 
Flushing, A. J. Kennedy. 

New York, T. G. Patten. 

Rochester, George C. Staud. 

North Carolina: Charlotte, J. M. Wed- 
dington. 

North Dakota : Fargo, J. P. Hardy. 
Ohio: 

Akron, A. Ross Read. 

Cincinnati, Joel C. Clore. 
Cleveland, W. J. Murphy. 
Columbus, S. J. Kinnear. 

Dayton, F. L. May. 

Toledo, George F. Parrish. 
Oklahoma: Oklahoma, Claude Weaver. 
Oregon : Portland, F. S. Myers. 
Pennsylvania : 

Easton, Horace Lehr. 

Harrisburg, F. C. Sites. 
Philadelphia, John A. Thornton. 
Pittsburgh, A. S. Guffey. 

Rhode Island: Providence, E. F. Car- 
roll. 

South Carolina : Charleston, J. M. Poul- 
not. 

Tennessee: 

Memphis, C. W. Metcalf. 
Nashville, E. S. Shannon. 

Texas: Dallas, B. M. Burgher. 
Vermont: Burlington, James E. Burke. 
Virginia: 

Norfolk, J. A. Lesner. 

Richmond, II. T. Thornton. 
Roanoke, L. B. Davis. 

West Virginia : Wheeling, W. W. Irwin. 
Wisconsin: Milwaukee, F. B. Schutz. 



146 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


DINNER TENDERED REPRESENTATIVES OF BUSINESS ORGANIZA¬ 
TIONS AND THE POSTMASTER GENERAL, THE ASSISTANT POST¬ 
MASTERS GENERAL, AND POSTAL OFFICIALS AT THE RALEIGH 
HOTEL, WASHINGTON, D. C., 6.30 P. M., APRIL 2 , 1919, BY THE 
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POSTMASTERS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 


Washington, D. C., April £, 1919. 

A toast was tendered to “ our absent brother,” President Woodrow 
Wilson. 

Mr. Selph, acting as toastmaster of the occasion, addressed the 
assemblage as follows: 

Our distinguished guests, my fellow postmasters, I extend you 
salutations and greetings. 

We are assembled here to-night as hosts, but, more than that, we 
are here as one big family, the official family of the Postal Service, 
to meet in harmonious union to have a feast of soul and flow of rea¬ 
son and to almost conclude the work that we came here to accomplish. 
We have not been together as a body since July, 1916. There are 
some of you here to-night who were not with us then, and some that 
are not here to-night who were with us then. 

I want you to rise for just a minute out of respect for one of our 
departed brothers, a fellow postmaster, Dr. Prince, of Piqua, Ohio. 
Please rise. He passed away last Sunday. [The assemblage arose 
in respect to his memory.] Please be seated. [The assemblage took 
their seats.] 

I have a telegram of regret from Postmaster Kesel, of Syracuse, 
who was called away from these deliberations because of the untimely 
passing away of his brother. 

I have also another communication of regret from a postmaster 
who has gone to Baltimore. Here is his letter; 

My Dear Mr. Selph : Unfortunately I must go to Baltimore this evening to 
attend to important matters, in order to he in attendance at the meetings 
to-morrow. This will prevent my attendance at the banquet, which you were 
good enough to invite me to. Terribly sorry, when I know you and I would 
have a fine time. 

I am not going to mention the gentleman’s name. He is a very 
fine gentleman and worth}^ postmaster. 

Now, my friends, I am not going to take up your time by attempt¬ 
ing to make a speech; that is not the function of the toastmaster. 
A toastmaster is simply one who gets up and breaks the ice for the 
orator who is to follow—I mean he is the medium through which the 
introduction is made; but before I engage upon this pleasant task 
I think it my duty to say that we are fortunate indeed in being privi¬ 
leged to meet here in Washington, fortunate because all of us have 



POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


147 


passed through a great conflict, performing our duty according to our 
lights and conscience, and we passed through it, may I say, exceedingly 
well; and that we have done thus because of the splendid leadership 
of our beloved chieftain, and, may I add, that his inspiration to us is 
a very great help. It is a wonderful thing to have a soulful passion 
of the heart. A man wdio is devoid of that feeling can not be a true 
American, and the man who does not understand and appreciate the 
great leadership that we have enjoyed, that made America the greatest 
Nation in the world, and the Nation that will be looked upon by the 
peoples of other nations as the greatest Nation in the world for years 
to come—all that would have been impossible, my friends, had it not 
been for the courage, wisdom, and the generosity and the humanity 
of the greatest President we have had in modern times—President 
Woodrow Wilson. [Applause.] He sat here with us in July, 1916, 
and some day we hope to have the proud privilege again as acting as 
his hosts and having him as our beloved guest. 

The postmasters of the United States have established a standard 
in their community for a recognition of higher efficiency. I wonder 
if you still remember when you got your first lesson in higher effi¬ 
ciency? I wonder if you remember the first schoolmaster we had 
under this administration. I have just been reminded that his natal 
day was on April 1, and I remarked to him that he was no April fool, 
he was the real thing, a pure American, and pure Americanism is not 
gauged by percentage. It is gauged by the effervescence of the heart 
and the wonderful development of the mind and the courage of his 
purpose and acts. 

I have not advised these gentlemen that I am going to call upon 
to speak this evening what to say, because in a family party we do not 
tell our kinsfolk what to say. I am going to call on several gentle¬ 
men here this evening. Some of them I am going to ask to excel the 
four-minute speakers in brevity, but the beloved friend was our first 
schoolmaster and first preceptor in Postal Service and who inspired 
us with the thought of higher efficiency can have his own time. 

I am therefore proud to introduce to you the former First 
Assistant Postmaster General Hon. Daniel C. Roper—the former 
First Assistant Postmaster General now Commissioner of Internal 
Revenue. 

REMARKS OF HON. DANIEL C. ROPER, COMMISSIONER OF 
INTERNAL REVENUE. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Postmaster General, postmasters, gentlemen, it 
is indeed, for me, a very great pleasure to know that I have not been 
forgotten in any postmasters’ convention held in Washington. I am 
exceedingly gratified that your president and toastmaster should 


148 


TOSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


have considered me worthy to mingle with this intelligent group of 
patriotic Americans this evening. 

As he was introducing me I recalled how heartily I indorsed him 
for the position of president of this association, and I am gratified 
to know that he is making good, not only as postmaster of one of the 
great cities of the country, but as one of the dynamic forces among 
you which is giving a broader conception to postal functions in line 
with the Postmaster General and his Assistants’ plans and en¬ 
deavors. [Applause.] If I did not know him as well as I do, listen¬ 
ing to the speech and to the remarkable introduction he has given 
me, I would say that he really talks like a man who has not paid his 
income tax; but he is so effervescing with a heart full of genuine 
love for friendship that I accord him, without any future investiga¬ 
tion, the convincing statement to my mind that he is too patriotic 
a man not to have paid his income tax. 

Gentlemen, I am exceedingly gratified that I was permitted for 
three and one-half years to be one among you. My heart swells 
with gratitude to the Postmaster General, who came to me before 
he had been inducted into that great office, and he accorded me the 
♦privilege of cooperating with him in selecting a great many of these 
very intelligent men that face me this evening; and it is gratifying 
to me, as it must be to him, that we were successful in so many in¬ 
stances. It seems to me that 3^011 have weathered the war in a re¬ 
markable way. You have stood the test and he has put you, with his 
efficient assistants, through many tests, yea, your country has put 
3 T ou through many wonderful tests. It seems to me that it should be 
the marvel and admiration, not only of the Postmaster General and 
his assistants, but the admiration of this country, yes, the admira¬ 
tion of the world, to see how the Postal Service has stood the acid 
test of war. I know how you have carried every man’s burden; I 
know how you have carried responsibilities that were not yours; I 
know how 3-011 have carried many responsibilities of the Treasury 
Department, not only in financing this war, but in spreading soli¬ 
darity of sentiment and creating the patriotic attitude of the Ameri¬ 
can people toward your Government and toward the war activities. 

I congratulate you, gentlemen, as I have watched the course of 
these trying months and years, on the splendid leadership of the 
Postmaster General and his assistants and yourselves. It seems to 
me when the history of this period is written you will find put down 
as one of the remarkable characters of this period for nerve, for 
force of character, for determination to carry out a program which 
he believed for the best interest of this country—you will find coming 
very high, indeed, in that list of patriots no less a personage than 
Albert Sidney Burleson. [Applause.] It is an inspiration to any 
group of men, it is an inspiration to any army of men, to know that 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


149 


you have got a great, strong hand in the general that commands the 
forces; and those men who have come to me now and then and who 
have undertaken to point out to me something that has been done 
wrong here or something that has been done wrong there, I have 
always said to them that if anything has been done wrong it has 
probably been done wrong for lack of information, certainly not 
intentionally, and it is your duty to present facts. I know that 
Albert Sidney Burleson would not do a wrong thing if he knew it. 
[Applause.] I know that he has got the nerve to undo a wrong 
thing if he has done it. [Applause.] Gentlemen, I am not seeking 
a post office, and therefore will ask you to bear with me while I 
continue this. I am exceedingly gratified that he and his assistants 
here have had the wisdom to call into this conference postmasters, 
Railway Mail Service, the various arms of this service, and group 
with them in conferences and deliberations the business people of 
the country. 

Gentlemen, I have been cooperating, or trying to cooperate, with 
the business people of this country for some time in the matter of 
collecting taxes; and the inspiration which has constantly come to me 
is that the'men are very rare who want to do the wrong thing. The 
instances are very rare where men want to defraud the Government 
or get what is not right for them to get. If I did not think that 
that group of men was in the majority in this country, I would be 
a pessimist and would want to desert this form of government. I 
am glad that these business men are here; I am glad that they have 
an opportunity of seeing the functioning of this great institution 
and get closer to the objectives and to the purposes that you have 
in mind. I believe that you have a wonderful service, and all that 
you have got to do is to sell it to the public. I think you need more 
advertising of your plans; I think that you should get your pur¬ 
poses and your program into the minds and the hearts of these 
business men, and through them to all the persons who receive mail 
in this country; but you will have accomplished that, believing in 
this leadership as I do, and believing in the postmasters as I do, you 
will have a service that everybody will understand and everybody 
will appreciate. 

There is an interesting connection between the Postal Service and 
this Internal-Revenue Service—you give; I take. [Laughter.] You 
give money or its equivalent in service; I get it back. The extent, 
therefore, through which you serve the people properly and keep 
them in a proper mental attitude, to that extent I will have less 
trouble in getting them to come across with the money that is due 
me. You see there is something sort of selfish in this thing, and, if I 
can—through the effort to get you to spend five hundred millions of 
dollars—I can collect six billions, that is a pretty good business 


150 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


proposition. I say, gentlemen, give to tlie people the service they 
need. I believe you will do it. [Applause.] I believe that in this 
country all of our institutions should be grouped as you are grouping 
them here, into one common, coordinated family. To my mind 
there is nothing so valuable as the confidences which we get out of 
telling others our troubles, discussing among ourselves the questions 
which are foremost in our minds, and getting common wisdom and 
common knowledge with regard to the solution of those questions. I 
believe our Government would, therefore, be stronger and better and 
more efficient and more effective if we could extend this league of 
units so as to incorporate it into a league of governmental activities 
throughout the country which are interrelated. 

Whatever I can do to assist the postmasters as Commissioner of 
Internal Revenue, or to boost the Postal Service, to that extent I 
am going to profit by it as another function and another instru¬ 
mentality of the Government. I want to say to you, then, that there 
should not be and there must not be in America anything but boost. 
There is no time, no place for the critic. If he has got his grievance, 
let him bring it to the grievance committee; let him bring it to head¬ 
quarters. I want to say to you that the great lesson of this war, as 
it impresses me, is the lesson that it teaches us that when Americans 
are positively bound together for any purpose there is no force on top 
side of God’s green earth than can defeat them in a righteous cause. 
[Applause.] Talk about your league of nations! It does not make 
any difference to me what a certain few individuals think about a 
league of nations, or what a given group or given groups of indi¬ 
viduals may think about the league of nations, I want to tell you 
that in America or in the world the league of nations, if it mean a tie 
by which men shall bind themselves to nobler purposes and for a 
more effective defense of righteous cause, is already in the hearts 
and minds of the people of the world and must come in some form, 
let you think about it as you may. [Applause.] 

I want to say that I am exceedingly grateful to you for the 
cooperation which you have given me in assuring me that I have in 
these postmasters throughout the country, in my work, a league of 
friendship and of cooperation. I remember a few months ago, when 
I was down in the slough of despond, when I had 4,000,000 tax re¬ 
turns facing me for audit, and where I had all kinds of trouble from 
every character of endeavor in the country pouring in upon me, 1 
revivified one morning when a gentleman, as if sent by an angel of 
hope, came to my desk and said to me: “ While I was riding on a 
train the other day I met a post-office inspector”—any of them 
here?—“a post-office inspector, who said to me, he said, ‘How is 
Roper getting on down there ? ’ ” He said: “ He is in up to his neck; 
don’t know whether he can get through or not; some even say that he 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


151 


has got a law that can not be administered; some have come to him 
and told him to send it back to Congress with the statement that it 
can not be administered.” This post-office inspector, true to the clan, 
true to post-office efficienc}^ and post-office courage and determination, 
said: “ Tell him that if lie gets down where he can’t move, we will 
take off our coats and a band of us come here and dig him out.” 
[Applause.] 

I want to say to you that you have been digging me out, and you 
do not know what a consolation it is to me to know, when I am down 
in the slough, to feel that all over this country, starting with the 
support of my great and good friend the Postmaster General, that 
I have got people back there who, if they can not help me in any other 
w T ay, can help me psychologically—that is, to say to the people: “ Here 
we are; don’t know much about the intricacies of this law, but we do 
know that it is a law of the land, and we know that the people up there 
in Washington are trying to administer it right, and it should be the 
part of every good American citizen to go along and boost and not 
criticize. If he has got criticism, present it in the proper way and co¬ 
operate in its solution.” As I have said to you, you do not know how 
inspiring that has been to me; you do not know with what gratitude 
I look into the faces of these men, representing as you do the entire 
Postal Service; and I want to say to you when I have gotten down 
into the bottoms I have gone over to the Postmaster General or to my 
good friend Gen. Koons, or to some other of the assistants, or to the 
Chief Post Office Inspector, and these men, notwithstanding the tre¬ 
mendous strain upon them, have given me men, a number of them, 
who have come into my service, I know, to your own detriment, and 
you always send me good men—probably there are no other kinds in 
the service. 

Now, gentlemen, I want to tell you that I shall not be satisfied with 
the Internal-Revenue Service until I have seen it organized, either 
through me or some of my successors, down to the postal plan— 
until I shall see a service organized in such unit as to get the internal- 
revenue business down to the people so they will be served in rela¬ 
tively small communities where they can find a member or a man who 
is acquainted with the Internal-Revenue Service who can serve them 
and who can be served through them. I therefore congratulate you 
on the magnificent organization which you have. I w T ish to en¬ 
courage you in the fact that when you get a little farther, and when 
the American people get a little farther, removed from this period 
of war and sum the catastrophe and trial of this war and look back 
upon you, it will be an honor—indeed, a very great honor—to have 
been a postmaster during this trying time in your country’s history 
and to have functioned, as you have, under the most trying circum¬ 
stances; and, with this, I extend to you, to the Postmaster General, 


152 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


and to these business men, these assistants, to you all I extend my 
very grateful appreciation, my very best wishes for the future and 
my Godspeed for the future Postal Service and the future betterment 
of your country and the distinction which you have given it through 
a magnificent postal unit. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selpii. I knew you would appreciate having a word or two 
from Mr. Roper. 

My friends, you know that we were called here for the purpose 
of having a closer union between the Postal Service of America and 
the business interests and have a better understanding of what they 
wanted and what they needed, and we hoped that they would get 
a better understanding of what we are trying to give them, of our 
sincere efforts in trying to serve our countrymen with the best com¬ 
modities within our power. We are well on in the pursuit of our 
deliberations. The program has been handed to you which you are 
now debating and discussing and developing along the lines inspired 
by Gen. Koons. 

In every big city the merchants, the commercial interests, the 
financial interests, and the industrial interests organize for purposes 
of self-protection. It became necessary to do that. They organized 
in order to cohesively concentrate methods of protection and safe¬ 
guarding their interests because the old axiom of everybody’s busi¬ 
ness being nobody’s business was apparent unless there was organiza¬ 
tion, and it is a well-laid down principle that the public is a mob 
unless properly organized: So these organizations by their being— 
and they are conducted in a businesslike way, they are systematic— 
if something is wrong with the individual business unit member he 
appeals to the organization, he appeals to his commercial organiza¬ 
tion, his chamber of commerce, or merchant’s exchange or some 
body of men organized for the purpose of properly advising him; 
and one of the functions of that body is to see what is the matter 
with the man. You heard that story about the negro soldier that 
had been one of the members of the selective draft and the first thing 
he did when he got to the cantonment was to line up with the rest of 
the boys in front of the post office, and it was snowing slightly, and 
he finally got into the post office and at the window wherein the 
letter of his name was shown he asked if there was a letter there for 
him, and they told him: “No letters for you,” and he said: “Dog¬ 
gone; what’s the matter with the mail? ” So doubtless these organi¬ 
zations say: “Dog gone; what’s the matter with the mail”? and 
sometimes they are right, sometimes it is our fault. But, if noth¬ 
ing else comes out of this conference than the fact that the repre 7 
sentatives of these great business organizations, national in their 
character have gotten a speaking acquaintance with us so that they 
know 'what we are up against, then that in itself, is a great work; 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


153 


and I have the privilege to-night, to present to you a gentleman who 
does not know that he is going to be called upon. That is one of the 
surprises of the evening. He represents a great body of business 
men in a busy city, in a busy Nation, in a busy world, in the largest 
city in this great Nation; and I am going to ask this gentleman if 
he won’t speak to you for a few moments. I am going to call upon 
Mr. Frederick B. De Berard, the worthy representative of the Mer¬ 
chant’s Association of New York, to address us for a few moments. 

REMARKS OF MR. FREDERICK B. DE BERARD. 

Gentlemen of the Postal Service, Postmaster General, Mr. Chair¬ 
man, your worthy chairman is quite right when he said he intended 
to spring some surprises this evening. He certainly sprung one on 
me effectually. I happened during the course of the evening casually 
to overhear a little conversation between the two gentlemen on my 
right, the point of which might be similar in its result to the sensa¬ 
tion felt by a very attractive young lady when she received an en¬ 
tirely unexpected offer of marriage, “ This was so sudden.” That is 
the way that I feel about it. Unfortunately, I have little training in 
public speaking, in which respect I am at a decided disadvantage 
among this worthy congregation, for, casually, I have gathered the 
impression that you comprise among }mur members the former gov¬ 
ernors of most of the States and practically all of the former Mem¬ 
bers of Congress [laughter and applause], so that you have, most of 
you have, had about 14 years experience on the Hill and have not 
forgotten your training, therefore if any of you gentlemen were 
called upon unexpectedly to discuss a subject with which you are 
relatively unfamiliar you would not be apt to find yourself in a 
j)Osition either to entertain or instruct. Subsequently, I being in that 
position, shall attempt to do neither; but I feel it only fitting that on 
behalf of the business organizations which I have the honor to repre¬ 
sent I should express to you the feelings that have arisen in my mind 
as a result of this conference. 

As Mr. Selpli lias stated, the great business organizations which 
exist in the principal cities, exist mainly for the purposes of self- 
protection, and in pursuit of that purpose they certainly deem it wise, 
or, perhaps without thought as to the wisdom, are sometimes aggres¬ 
sive, and perhaps unduly aggressive, in the methods that they pursue. 
I want at this point to make a confession. I, mentally, am a pug¬ 
nacious man. Many of the undertakings of the Merchants’ Associa¬ 
tion are, perhaps unfortunately, delegated to me, and if I follow 
my natural temperament I perhaps start in too pugnaciously where 
more intimate personal contact with the officials with whom I have 
to deal would result in a different frame of mind and, possibly, and I 


154 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


hope, with better results. What I have encountered here in the 
course of this conference in the way of sincere and rational explana¬ 
tion of difficulties, some of which have been the cause of much com¬ 
plaint and some grievance on the part of merchants, has done much 
to solidify in my mind the understanding and the belief in the unwis¬ 
dom of pugnacity as a basis for business dealings. 

The elegant address made by the Postmaster General yesterday 
revealed to my mind as never before the wide range of service which 
the Postal Department has been rendering to the people of this Na¬ 
tion under conditions of extraordinary stress. You gentlemen have 
been the agencies through which this great governmental department 
has rendered aid to all the people of a kind and to a degree which I 
feel has not been hitherto fully appreciated by the merchant class. 
If it had been appreciated it might have resulted very materially in 
changing the* methods of presenting to the department and to the peo¬ 
ple the conditions which we conceived, possibly wrongly, demanded 
changed; and I shall return to New York firm in the belief that the 
policy of closer contact, the policy of frequent and intimate discussion 
of the problems that arise in connection with the Government service, 
and particularly with the Postal Service, will best be solved along 
the lines of close contact with amicable discussion and agreement 
first upon the nature of the problems from which proceed complaints, 
and secondly in the securing a betterment of conditions through the 
voluntary action of the department upon truth of the need of changes. 
In the contact I have had w T ith many of the gentlemen on the floor, 
I have been confirmed in that belief. I have been persuaded of the 
fact that every man here is an ardent and devoted servant of the 
public, desirous of performing his duty in the fullest and best manner 
possible, and that if the public is put in position to make known 
their wishes and all cases of grievance can be amicably discussed, 
that it would result in the improvement of the service and in both 
cases in the removal of causes of complaints. 

I shall make representations along that line to the association which 
I represent, and shall hereafter do all in my power to promote the 
general program Mr. Koons has urged be followed in that respect, 
and I am sure that as a result of general cooperation of the business 
community throughout the country, particularly through the medium 
of the great business associations, that entirely friendly and harmoni¬ 
ous relations with Government officials, with the officials of the Post 
Office Department, can be established, and that the service rendered by 
that department will not only be better appreciated but will be ren 
dered to the fullest possible extent within the power of the gentleman 
charged with the control of the postal affairs. 

Gentlemen, I thank you. [Applause.] 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


155 


Mr. Selph. From the physical display of your pleasure I think 
you rather appreciate these surprises, and I believe I will continue 
them. \ ou are glad to hear Mr. De Berard, and I think he was glad 
to speak to you; it makes us really happy. I do not believe this 
evening would be complete at all, and I think all of you would be 
disappointed did you not hear just a word—although he is a very 
modest man—all brave men are very modest men, all good men are 
modest men, and I say that in a serious sense—modest because they 
do not put themselves forward, and I think you will be happy, 
indeed, if I spring the next surprise, and £ay I present to you the 
worthy successor of Mr. Roper, our beloved Gen. John C. Ivoons. 
[Applause.] 

REMARKS OF HON. JOHN C. KOONS, FIRST ASSISTANT POST¬ 
MASTER GENERAL. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Postmaster General, representatives of the busi¬ 
ness organizations, and postmasters, I assure you that this is a sur¬ 
prise, because it was thoroughly understood that I was not to talk 
to-night. I am glad, however, to say a word to you and express 
my appreciation of your coming to Washington on our request 
and the careful study and attention which you have given the prob¬ 
lems of the Postal Service since you have been here. 

The Postal Service should meet the reasonable demands of the 
public. We are the servants of the public, and we should make the 
service meet its needs. To do so we must keep in close contact with 
the public, the business men, and the users of the mail. With that 
end in view when it was decided to call this conference, we invited 
the representatives of some of the largest users of the mails in the 
country to meet with us. We have one firm represented here that 
spent more than $6,000,000 in postage in one city alone, and others 
in like proportions. We also have the postmasters representing more 
than 30,000,000 of the patrons. In addition to that, we invited 
some of the smaller users of the mails. We invited the representa¬ 
tives of the largest business organizations in the country, and it is 
through the associations that you gentlemen form at this meeting 
that we expect to keep in close touch with the business men and the 
public. 

Now, I am thoroughly satisfied that the business men are earnest 
in their efforts to cooperate with us to give good service. We should 
show our appreciation of their efforts and their desire by cooperating 
with them and giving them good service. If we have any complaint, 
if they have any complaint, let us discuss it in a fair, frank manner. 
If we are at fault, do not hesitate to say so, and then take whatever 
action necessary to remedy it. You will find that we will always 
support you. 


156 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


I am not going to take any more of your time, because I know we 
have a lot of speakers and I have a lot of talking to do to you to¬ 
morrow. I thank you. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selpii. I have several other suggestions to make to you before 
I announce the aviation handicap. Then I am going to try and 
excel, through the medium of postmasters of oratorical ability, the 
four-minute men. That will be some effort, but we have never had 
anything put up to us yet that we did not accomplish and get away 
with. 

I know you are very anxious to hear, some gentleman other than 
ourselves. I fear myself, now, that I am talking too much, but Chi¬ 
cago is a great city. Everybody admits that. The women voted 
wet there yesterday. [Laughter.] I know some of you would prob¬ 
ably like to be in Chicago to-night for a few minutes. It is a great 
business center. It is the greatest business center in the Central 
West except one other cit}^, and I am too modest to mention that. 
[Laughter.] 

We have several representatives here of the big business interests 
that have come here to help us in our deliberations and give us the 
benefit of their counsel and advice, and the gentleman I present to 
you now has been very kind and generous in aiding us. He repre¬ 
sents a great body of men in a great city, and I take pleasure in ask¬ 
ing, Mr. II. L. Fairfield, representing the Chicago Association of 
Commerce, to address us. 

REMARKS OF MR. H. L. FAIRFIELD, OF THE CHICAGO ASSOCIA¬ 
TION OF COMMERCE. 

Mr. Toastmaster and gentlemen, this surprise is accumulating. I 
am glad, at least, though, that I represent the second city in America 
rather than the first, because my worthy associate from New York 
has already said a good deal that I might have said, but I am very 
glad indeed to have the opportunity of expressing the very heartiest 
cooperation of the business men of Chicago whom I have the honor 
to represent for the opportunity which Mr. Ivoons has afforded us of 
meeting with the postal officials and expressing some of our difficul¬ 
ties, and particularly for the feeling of cooperation which is indicated 
by Mr. Koons’ letters addressed to the business men of the country, 
and certainly by this conference. 

So far as I am aware this is the first time business representatives 
have ever been called in a consultation of this sort. I hope it will 
not be the last. I can assure you that the Chicago Association of 
Commerce and the business men there will cooperate to the fullest 
extent with the officers of the Post Office Department to the end that 
the Postal Service may be made the best possible, It is only through 
earnest and active cooperation that good service is possible. 

I thank you. [Applause.] 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


157 


Mr. Selph. Of course you will join with me in this statement—that 
money is power. You know how powerful we are as units when we 
have enough money to be able to pay our expenses to Washington, 
and you know how necessary money was in pushing to a successful 
conclusion the emancipation of the oppressed people of the Old 
AVorld and making America safe for Americans, because all Ameri¬ 
can people put up their money. Now, what enabled them to put up 
their money? What enabled them to put up their money was the 
wise, judicial act of the President of the United States and Congress 
in passing the Federal reserve act, and it buoyed up and made the 
banks unbreakable; and the Federal reserve act more than any other 
one thing, except men and munitions and patriotism and courage 
and valor, helped us to win this war, because the banks bore a great 
burden, and did it generously and unselfishly and uncomplainingly. 

We have a distinguished representative of the Banker’s Association 
here with us to-night, and I am going to ask Mr. C. J. Bell if he won’t 
address us for a moment. [Applause.] 

REMARKS OF MR. C. J. BELL. 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, there was an Irishman once, and 
he was asked to make a wish, and was promised that that wish would 
be fulfilled. Pat thought for a time, and then said, “ Well, by golley, 
I’d like to know where I am going to die; ” and a fairy said to him, 
“ What do you want to know that for; what good will that do you? ” 
“ Oh, faith, I’d keep away from there.” And I feel a great deal like 
that Irishman when I am called upon to get on my feet and address 
an audience of this kind. 

I was very much struck this morning at your morning session with 
a speech made by one of the Assistant Postmasters General, which 
might have been made to a committee of bankers, in telling of the 
work which has been accomplished by the Post Office Department 
and the cooperation they gave up with the last Liberty loan, and the 
feeling of optimism which seemed to come over that audience when 
lie spoke. This is a time when we need all the optimism we can get 
together. We all remember the first Liberty loan; the pessimist said, 
li It can’t be done.” The second the same, the third the same, and the 
fourth the same; and now we hear the same thing in regard to the 
fifth. I hope that you gentlemen will go back and tell the people 
that the fifth loan will be a greater success [applause] than any of 
the others. Politics are adjourned, and the people are together as one 
people, and we are going to pull it through. We have great problems 
ahead of us, great problems ahead, if we are to keep the trade of the 
world. 

The most important thing in my mind is the question of credit. 
IIow are we to sell and keep on selling our goods to foreign coun- 


158 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


tries? They can not ship us gold. Two years more would deplete 
every country on the face of the earth but the United States if 
the balances were to be paid to us in gold. We must arrange some 
system of credit; we must educate the people of this country to do 
what England has done in the past, on which she built up her great 
commercial supremacy—that is, in loaning money in foreign lands. 
It is going to be a difficult task. How it is to be accomplished I do not 
know, but the great financiers of the world are meeting to-day and 
every day discussing that great problem, and we have to educate our 
people up to the foreign investment market. The only way in which 
we can keep our supremacy is to help our creditors. 

I am very glad to be here as an unworthy representative of the 
American Bankers’ Association, in this audience of governors and 
past Members of Congress. They should have sent a good speaker 
to talk to you to-night, but I have enjoyed the two or three sessions 
I have attended, and my only regret is that I have not been able to 
have been present at all of them, but I hope to do better to-morrow. 
I thank you. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. Of course, Mr. Bell, we can not help having, once upon 
a time, being selected by our admiring constituents as governors, 
Congressmen, members of the legislature, and other things-- 

Mr. Bell. I do not blame them. 

Mr. Selpii (continuing). In political life, and that is rather the 
fault of the people. [Laughter.] We are not going to blame them, 
Mr. Bell; you have to have governors and Members of Congress and 
other distinguished public officers, and I hope before we leave here 
that you will feel that you have to have good postmasters. 

I am going to get through with the speeches as far as your enter¬ 
tainment is concerned, and then I am going to ask you to entertain 
these business men, and then we will begin the oratorical aviation 
handicap. I intend to call upon these former governors and former 
Members of Congress to prove just what Mr. De Berard and Mr. 
Bell has said about them. In the meantime this evening would be 
incomplete if I did not present to you another representative of the 
great national business organizations, one that feels the business 
pulse of the entire Nation; one, I think sometimes, that makes busi¬ 
ness opinions, and one, an institution that has during our time at 
any event, been the stanch friend of this administration, and I take 
great pleasure in presenting to you Mr. D. A. Skinner, representing 
the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Mr. Skinner—well, 
I can not present him to you. He was here. Has lie left? 

Mr. De Berard. Mr. Skinner was warned. 

Mr. Selph. He was warned, was he? 

Mr. De Berard. He skinned out. 



POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


159 


Mr. Selph. Gentlemen, I think the surprise is on me. We still 
keep up the spirit of surprise, and now will you permit me to present 
to you a man that was once a governor, a man that ought to now be 
a Senator, and if I [applause] could have made him a Senator I 
think I would have done the greatest service to the President of the 
United States that could have been accomplished during these trying 
times. It was not my fault that he w T as not elected as a United 
States Senator to succeed the late lamented Senator Stone. We tried 
to do it, but men proposed and other men disposed, and it is one of 
the great regrets of the good men of this administration—we call 
him governor down our way, and he was a mighty good governor. 
When General Burleson took charge of the Post Office Department 
he wanted a wise counselor, and he cast his eyes out where the West 
begins, as the poet says: 

Where the skies are bluer, where hearts are truer, 

Where there’s less of crying and more of striving. 

Where men make friends without half trying. 

And I know you respond to that sentiment. I present to you tho 
sage of the Post Office Department, our great friend, Gov. A. M. 
Dockery. 

REMARKS OF HON, ALEXANDER M. DOCKERY, THIRD ASSISTANT 
POSTMASTER GENERAL. 

Mr. Toastmaster, Mr. Postmaster General, representatives of busi¬ 
ness organizations, and gentlemen of the great Postal Establishment, 
I feel that acknowledgment is due the toastmaster for the very 
gracious manner in which he has presented me this evening; and in 
this connection I desire to express to postal officials the warm appre¬ 
ciation I feel for the cordial greetings given me since your coming to 
the Capital City. I intend to show my appreciation of your kind¬ 
ness by complying with the admonition of the toastmaster and mak¬ 
ing my remarks very brief, for I want to hear from some of the post¬ 
masters and other postal officials. 

I am delighted to be here to-night, glad to have heard the inspiring 
talks by business men and from our old friend, General Roper, the 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue. I may say in this connection 
that while General Roper seemed to think that the task of collecting 
six billions of taxes—and it is a stupendous task—is somewhat diffi¬ 
cult, I believe the American people who pay income and other taxes 
will move with eager feet to meet the demands of the National Treas¬ 
ury to assist in the payment of the enormous indebtedness incurred 
in the war for the extension and preservation of human liberty. 

I am glad to meet you gentlemen, because you are one division of a 
great army that fought during the war just now closing. You were 


160 


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not at the front with the boys in France, or in Flanders, but you con¬ 
stituted an exceedingly effective division of that great army behind 
the lines that made it possible for our boys to carry the starry banner 
of our country to victory at Chateau-Thierry, the Argonne Forest, 
and other battle fields that have made American valor renowned for¬ 
ever. [Applause.] But for your efforts at home our Government 
could not have accomplished the unparalleled feat, without precedent 
in all history, of raising and equipping within IT months an army of 
nearly 4,000,000,000 men, and transporting more than 2,000,000,000 
of them 3,000 miles across the sea; and so, while I doff my hat to the 
heroes over there and those now here, I want you to know that the 
American people appreciate fully your efforts behind the lines to sus¬ 
tain our Army and our Navy. 

But your duty is not }^et complete. Gentlemen representing the 
American Bankers’ Association have suggested that another duty of 
the Postal Service is to aid in putting over the financial top the fifth 
liberty loan, and I am sure that patriotic duty will be performed. I 
know the Postal Service will do its duty as heretofore, and as all 
classes of the people have done, but we must enter upon the work of 
placing the coming liberty loan with the old-time zest, vigor, and 
zealous patriotism, such as was shown during the-war period. 

Gentlemen, just a word or two more and I am done. I was reading 
to-day Harold Bell Wright’s inimitable production. The Shepherd 
of the Hills. That gifted author states at the outset of that book that 
there are two trails in life, one leading to lower levels of activity 
and the other to higher and nobler levels. That statement suggests 
the thought at this time that there are two governmental trails in 
the history of nations, one leading to lower levels, to the brutality 
and cruelty of autocratic governments, to forms of government in 
which the people have no part—that sinister form of government, 
I regret to say, has prevailed during the greater part of the 20 
centuries. But less than 150 years ago a great Virginian in a historic 
body at Independence Hall wrote a document that will live as long 
as men love liberty, in which he blazed the way to a governmental 
trail that leads to higher and nobler activities [applause] ; and, 
gentlemen, during the nearly century and a half of the triumphs of 
the doctrines of which Jefferson wrote, and for which Washington 
fought, the influence of America’s example has been such that all 
around the world constitutions have been written and governments 
have been moving upward to loftier levels of action. But, gentlemen, 
the autocratic governments of the central powers finally saw the 
danger to them of the coming world-wide triumph of the ideals for 
which America stood, and sought by a war in which Germany led 
the way to overturn the doctrines of the rule of the people and the 
right of self-determination. As one result, our country was com- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


161 


pellecl to enter that war to vindicate American rights on the high 
seas. Under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson [applause], the 
most commanding figure in the world to-day, governments are mov¬ 
ing rapidly upward to the lofty levels of human liberty. Gentle¬ 
men, I spoke of visions in my brief talk to you to-day. I have 
a vision of a new and mighty era, upon the threshhold of which we 
are standing to-night, an era in which the United States will have a 
merchant fleet on the highways of the seas that will give us proud 
preeminence in the race for the trade of the world [applause]; an 
era in which the products of farms shall find ready and profitable 
market; an era in which American labor shall be employed to fur¬ 
nish the output of our manufactories to be sold in every market of 
the world; an era in which munition factories shall slow down to the 
absolute necessities of limited armies and navies; an era, gentlemen, 
in which our Government and our people will become the most 
powerful among the nations; and all these achievements will rest 
for coming generations upon the covenant of peace that, I believe, 
will be perfected at Paris within a very short time. [Applause.] 
Gentlemen, we are at the parting of the ways. It is either enduring 
peace or another more dreadful welter of blood within the coming 
generation. 

Let me say in conclusion that the defeat of a just peace, binding 
together in the bonds of friendly cooperation the nations of the 
world, so as to make wars practically impossible—the defeat of such 
a covenant will not call simply for a fifth liberty loan. It is almost 
impossible to conceive the disasters that would follow swift upon 
the defeat of the attempts of the allied Governments and the United 
States to enact such a covenant of peace, for, gentlemen, confidence 
in the business world would immediately vanish, prosperity would be 
impossible, and civilization would take a long backward step. But 
I have no such fear. On the contrary I am expecting to see the time 
very soon when the American delegates, headed by Woodrow Wilson, 
will come hack with a treaty assuring enduring peace to all peoples. 
I also want to hale the coming time—and it is coming very soon— 
when a great Missourian, the commanding general of the American 
Armies now in France, shall bring back the last of that heroic Army 
that helped to win victor; and I hope to live and look out from the 
fifth-story window of the Post Office Department when Pershing 
leads those triumphant heroes in their last parade up Pennsylvania 
Avenue. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. I know you will agree with me that he would have 
made a great Senator. [Applause.] 

Our distinguished guests have heard about the aerial mail serv¬ 
ice; they have heard a great deal to-day and yesterday about the 
113522°—19-11 


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promptitude of the dispatches in that service. Now, we are going 
to have an aerial flight of oratory. We have got to take you from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific and back to Washington again, and we have 
got to land you back in 30 minutes, in order to call upon the last dis¬ 
tinguished speaker on schedule time, for we must be out of here at a 
certain definite moment. 

I trust my fellow postmasters well enough to be frank with them. 
■Some of us were governors and Congressmen before we were honored 
with the great position of postmaster. At that time w r e could speak 
at length, but to-night we must speak briefty. I do not say that to 
curtail your thoughts, because none of you know upon whom I am go¬ 
ing to call; but, in order to make the aerial flight from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific I shall begin with the great State of Maine, and call 
upon a former governor who has now the honor to be a good and 
great postmaster. I will present to you Gov. F. W. Plaisted, the 
postmaster at Augusta, Me. 

REMARKS OF HON. F.’W. PLAISTED, POSTMASTER AT 
AUGUSTA, ME. 

Mr. Plaisted. Mr. President, Postmaster General, I indeed esteem 
it a great privilege and pleasure to be permitted to be with you this 
evening for the purpose of gaining the inspiration which I know all 
the postmasters have gained by this inspiring meeting. I can not 
resist the opportunity of, at this time, availing myself of this occasion 
and this presence to express my grateful thanks to the president of 
the National Association of Postmasters for the encouragement which 
he gave to me as a postmaster living, as I do, in the extreme eastern 
section of this great Union. 

Now, in addition to the many duties which the distinguished chief 
of this great national organization has told you that postmasters 
were called upon to perform, I was also selected as chairman of the 
draft board of my county. Sometimes I found the duties that de¬ 
volved upon me were more than one man could bear, and then I would 
find these little monthly messages that came from Colin Selph, and I 
found that he was doing the w T ork of 10 men—yes, a hundred men—in 
that great city of St. Louis, and I said, “ What is my work compared 
with what Selph is doing? ” [Applause.] It made me make up my 
mind that the only thing for us to do was to just keep on keeping on, 
and we did. I think each one of us did to the best of our ability the 
work that came to our hands to do. I say that I am well repaid, as 
we all are, upon coming here to this Nation’s Capital, if for no 
other purpose or for no other reason than that we should have lis¬ 
tened to the inspiring address of our chief [applause] as he made it 
to us yesterday. [Applause.] I knew he was a big man, big as the 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 163 

State of Texas, but I did not know that his heart was the heart of 
everyone of the 48 States of the Union. [Applause.] 

I say to you gentlemen, and I hope that he has not yet arrived 
at that time of life when if he does a good thing he is not willing 
to be told of it; and he did a good thing yesterday to this large 
gathering of representative citizens from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
and from the Great Lakes to the southern Gulf in telling us that 
his sole purpose was to find out the right aiid then, without hope of 
reward or fear of punishment do his duty as God gave him to see it. 
He has given to us all a broader view of the great system, the great 
service that we are permitted to perform to the people of this land, 
a service which touches every man, woman, and child as no other 
service can do. I hope that that address can be given to the Nation. 
That address should be published to the world, it should be pub¬ 
lished for the benefit of the American people. It will silence criti¬ 
cism, it will make the people realize what a great country we have 
and what a splendid head we have to this splendid organization. It 
is worth while also to come here and get the spirit of optimism from 
our dear friend Gov. Dockery that he has given us. [Applause.] 
It will make better men of us all, and it is worth while also to know 
that there are no barriers between the postmaster and the great 
heads of this greatest of organizations, and it gives us a new spirit 
of helpfulness to know what they can do to serve the American 
people through us postmasters whom they have honored by selecting 
to carry out the orders of the administration. It is not what they 
want, it is what the people want that this great national organiza¬ 
tion and our great chiefs are trying to instill into us. 

I think I am going to be a better man, a better postmaster, by 
having come here, and I thank our good friend the First Assistant, 
for inviting me. 

We of this generation have risen, I believe, to give most heartfelt 
thanks to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. Happiness has 
come in the past to the homes of many nations; prosperity and 
strength have been the heritage to other peoples besides our own, 
but there are none so blessed as are we to-day in this great free 
Eepublic of ours. All the prayers and sacrifices of the past—what¬ 
ever man has done anywhere for freedom, whatever has been sacri¬ 
ficed for the good of mankind—belongs to us, has become an inheri¬ 
tance. I believe that to-morrow will be better than to-day. I be¬ 
lieve that man will be kinder to his fellow man and that the sum of 
human happiness will increase. Then we can indeed hope and be¬ 
lieve that this country will continue its great work for the good of 
mankind as it is to-day. Certainly it is able to surmount every ob¬ 
stacle that it has encountered; and that we shall have all govern¬ 
ment resting in the love of all, because it is administered in the 


164 


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interest of all—such a government as our revolutionary fathers in¬ 
tended it should be, and for which Woodrow Wilson stands for to¬ 
day in the limelight of the world and says: “It shall be.” [Ap¬ 
plause.] 

Mr. Selph. Gov. Plaisted is traveling on schedule time and we have 
now passed over the great expanse of this wonderful country. Dis¬ 
tance now means very little to us and so we go to the Pacific. A far 
cry it seems, but we have him here and I present to you Hon. Harring¬ 
ton Brown, the postmaster of Los Angeles, Calif. 

REMARKS OF HON. HARRINGTON BROWN, POSTMASTER AT 
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 

Mr. Brown. Mr. Toastmaster, invited guests, and fellow post¬ 
masters, in the presence of the magnificent assembly of brave and 
handsome men I feel inspired. That is, I feel inspired to tell you 
something that I think will please you, that will meet with your 
unstinted approbation; in fact, I expect to receive vociferous ap¬ 
plause for what I am about to tell you and that is that I am the only 
living specimen of the genus Democrat who is not an orator. I am not 
in the habit of making speeches. Whenever I do make the attempt 
my method is peculiar. I do not know how T or where I am going to 
start; nor do I know where I am going or how I am going to land. 
It is illustrated somewhat by a story that my friend Roper tells about 
a man down in “ Nawth Ca’lina ” who had a yearling and he wanted, 
some of these days, to be the happy possessor of a yoke of oxen, but 
while he was waiting to obtain possession of the other animal he 
procured a yoke. He put one part of the yoke over the head of this 
yearling and his own head through the other side of the yoke. The 
yearling got frightened and started to run away with him and ran 
down through the village where there were lots of people and the 
man hollered: “ Clear the way, here come two damn fools, somebody 
head us off.” Either that is my method or it is like the one of the 
negro preacher that General Burleson tells about down in Texas who 
was asked what his procedure was in delivering his sermons, and he 
said: “ Well, first I tells ’em what I gwine tell ’em an’ den I tells ’em 
dat I done tell ’em what I gwine tell ’em; I means I tells ’em what 
I’se gwine tell ’em and den I tells ’em I done telled ’em.” 

Now, I shall detain you but a moment to tell you that I’ve come a 
long w 7 ay. “ It’s a long, long way to Tipperary ” but it’s well worth 
the expense and trouble. It is very much like returning home, be¬ 
cause I am a native of this city and next to my adopted city of Los 
Angeles I think this is the most delightful city, of course, that there 
is in the country. 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


165 


In coming here I did not expect to take any active part in our pro¬ 
ceedings. I certainly did not expect to be called on to make any re¬ 
marks at this banquet, but I want to say that I came here to get some 
education and I have been getting it; and I find in a large way that 
this getting together is a great thing. In a small way I had a little 
experience out at my own place. I have quite a good sized city under 
my jurisdiction out there—Glendale—and some of the citizens got an 
idea that we were not giving them as good service as the people in the 
heart of the city were getting. So I went out there and had a confer¬ 
ence and meeting with some of the disgruntled citizens and I found 
that we reached a very much better understanding. One of the news¬ 
papers had rather intimated that we took the Vanderbiltian attitude 
of “ the public be damned ” and I disabused their minds of any such 
thing as that; and they were really expecting very much better service 
than they were getting in the heart of the city. I think it is a splendid 
thing for us to get together and understand each other. 

I am very glad to be here and it is well worth a trip across the con¬ 
tinent, in fact. I thank you. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. Mr. Brown is on time and now we will have to come 
back from California and on our return journey we will stop in the 
Southwest. I want to admonish this gifted speaker, however, who 
was once a Member of Congress, that this is no “ dee-bate.” I do not 
want to disappoint Mr. Bell, but I warn Mr. Bell that he is going 
to hear a silver-tongued orator in the person of an efficient post¬ 
master—very efficient. I call upon the little giant of the Southwest, 
Hon. Claude Weaver, of Oklahoma. 

REMARKS OE HON. CLAUDE WEAVER, POSTMASTER AT OKLA¬ 
HOMA CITY, OKLA. 

Mr. Weaver. Mr. Chairman, I am particularly embarrassed on this 
occasion and really I don’t believe Colin Selph knows exactly where 
I come from. Old Gov. Roberts wrote a book on the subject of 
Texas and whenever the boys graduated from school he gave us one 
as a souvenir. He was not able to sell them, and it had on one page 
a picture of a farmer called a planter. He had a plow and a mule, 
and there was a picture of a jack rabbit there and the jack rabbit 
was bigger than the mule. Gov. Roberts had lived in the town of 
Nachadoches and he described it thus: The town of Nacliadoches is 
beautifully situated in the center of the surrounding country and 
that is where Oklahoma City is. [Laughter.] Do you people know 
that 30 years ago to-day Oklahoma was just a wind-swept prairie 
swail, but that to-day it is a great progressive city all alive with the 
vital elements of industry and progress? I counted the population 
last week and there were just exactly 110,000 by actual count, and[ 


166 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


God knows how many there are now. We have got one little city 
down there of about 60,000 people that has got eighty millions in 
bank accounts. It is an oil town, Tulsa, but if I were to get started 
out on that absorbing topic there is no telling when I’d stop. 

I remember when we called the banking interests of the country 
into consultation with us when we were fighting for the Federal 
reserve act. I want to say, too, that we talked to everybody who 
could enlighten us or tell us anything and we were not very far 
from the Post Office Department and the Postmaster General was 
with us. They didn’t make a solitary amendment of any consequence 
in that bill from the way that it went from the House, and Carter- 
Glass will tell you the same thing. 

Here is what I want these great business interests to know with 
regard to the postal policies of this country: The postal policy is to 
help them in every legitimate way. We are glad, then, - the Post¬ 
master General and his assistants are glad to have them, glad to 
have their advice, glad to accept their counsel in all matters of detail 
and of helpfulness, glad to have them know the great fundamental, 
basic policies of reform that Albert Burleson has himself inaugu¬ 
rated into the Postal System of this country. 

Way out beneath the heliotrope skies of the God-given West, out 
in Oklahoma where the bees lay hidden in the bloom of the alfalfa 
fields and where the free song of the uncaged bird is heard, out there 
where the farmers toil, have they got any representatives here ? 1 he 
postal policy, what Daniel C. Roper calls policies of postal democracy 
like love and like death level all ranks and lay the shepherd's crook 
beside the scepter; and the policies of the postal system are for this 
whole great country. The humblest farmer is just as much entitled 
to the full benefits and the full endeavor and to the full influence of 
the postal system as the large business man,’ and I say nothing 
against them because we are glad to help them in every legitimate 
way; but I do want to emphasize the idea—and I have not heard it 
expressed yet—I want to emphasize the idea that the postal system, 
the post office, in the people’s post office. We, the people of the 
United States, in order to form a more perfect government to estab¬ 
lish justice, to insure domestic tranquillity, to provide for the com¬ 
mon defense, and to promote the general welfare, do ordain and es 
tablish this Constitution and this Government. 

Now, in conclusion, if Albert Burleson were not here—why I have 
known him—I know his history. Go back to the stricken fields under 
the shadow of the Alamo where his grandfather led an army there 
in the face of death and captured the city and went away and down 
there to join Sam Houston upon the banks of the crystal stream of 
San Jacinto. Take his father with my father, a brave soldier in the 
Confederate Army; with my father a member of the Texas constitu- 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


167 


tional convention of 1875. I just tell you that to give you a little 
illustration. 

Albert Burleson boasts of Scotch descent. He has got better blood 
in his veins than ever flowed in the veins of William Ellis or Robert 
Bruce, and that is the blood of the Texas pioneers [applause] ; but 
I have read the history of Scotland and I have read that immortal 
poem that the great Sir Walter Scott wrote. You remember how 
the Scottish knight, who was a king in disguise, went in the midst 
of his enemies, heard the whistle shrill— 

And he was answered from the hill; 

Wild as the scream of the curlew, 

From crag to crag the signal flew. 

Instant, though copse and heath arose 
Bonnets, and spears, and bended bows; 

On right, on left, above, below, 

Sprung up at once the lurking foe; 

And that great, great heart of Scotland’s king thrilled with cour¬ 
age and strength— 

He mann’d himself with dauntless air, 

Return’d the chief his haughty stare, 

.His back against a rock he bore, 

And firmly placed his foot before: 

“ Come one, come all! this rock shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I.” 

And that is the stock of the Postmaster General of the United 
States. 

Mr. Selfii. If we are to get back in Washington on time we must 
hurry along with this aerial airship, so we will, go away from the 
middle of the Nation, where the alfalfa grows, and we will pass over 
the great Mississippi and the Ohio—I like to stop there, but time 
is limited, so we will have to go on, and we will therefore go to the 
Hudson, the great Hudson River, where the battleships are coming 
in and where the boys are coming back, and where the palisades 
are, and where the tall buildings are seen from its shores, and where 
the millions crowd together, and we are going to Brooklyn; and 
it is my pleasure to present the Hon. Walter C. Burton, postmaster 
of Brooklyn. 

REMARKS OE HON. WALTER C. BURTON, POSTMASTER AT 
BROOKLYN, N. Y. 

Mr. Burton. Mr. Toastmaster, Postmaster General, and gentlemen, 
I am sorry that all the postmasters of the country do not live as near 
to the headquarters of postal administration as I do. I early learned 
the way to the department. I was very much interested in Mr. 


168 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


Roper’s description of the times when he was depressed and he won¬ 
dered if he would be able to swing that tremendous task that had 
been put in his hands. I w^ant to say to him that nobody who knew 
him ever doubted for a moment that he would swing it. [Applause.] 
But postmasters in the lesser fields sometimes have periods of de¬ 
pression and things go wrong. Whenever such a period as that has 
come to me, I just hop upon a train and come down to Washington; 
and after a day or two about the department meeting the Post¬ 
master General and the Assistant Postmasters General and their able 
assistants my doubts disappear, my courage returns, and I go back 
to the job, as we are all going back to our jobs from here, with the 
determination in larger measure to instill into our rank and file the 
tonic stimulating influence that we receive by a visit to the depart¬ 
ment at Washington. 

After one of my earl} T visits here, and I am pleased to say this 
because it was the impression I gathered from one of my early visits 
here, and I am pleased to say it to the representatives of the busi¬ 
ness interests who have so kindly come into our deliberations .here, 
that I said to the supervisors of my office: “ I want every department 
of this office conducted as you would conduct it if it were your own 
business and 3 7 ou had the most keen competition of any business in 
the community ”; and that is the spirit and the ideal of the present 
postal administration of the United States; and as we have this 
inspiring leadership here, it is for us to carry a like inspiration to 
our forces who do the work in our offices at home. If this gathering 
here had no further result, if there were no constructive acts and 
policies developed as a result of this conference, the stimulating 
effect that it will have upon the postmasters for better service would 
entirely justif} 7 the calling of this conference. 

We have been wont to say in these recent troubled times, I doubt 
not that we all have said that we were living in the greatest hours 
in the world’s history. Sometimes I think we are even now living 
in hours of greater import than those that have so recently closed. 
This is the time for vision; this is the- time when the man worthy 
to be called an American must have his face toward the future with¬ 
out misgiving, without any feebleness of thought or purpose—the 
great army behind the lines, a hundred millions of united people here 
at home with two million Sir Gallahads overseas whose strength 
was as the strength of 10 because their hearts were pure. [Applause.] 
We have made it plain to all the world that the Star-Spangled 
Banner forever in triumph shall wave [applause] o’er the land of 
the free and the home of the brave. 

But, American citizens, is it all of our duty and our responsibility 
to have set the United States in the proud position of leadership 
among all of the nations of the world? Oh, no. Responsibility 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFEEENCE. 


169 


does not end with that glorious consolation. We must see to it that 
in the days to come the ideals of American democracy are carried to 
the uttermost parts of the earth until there is neither speech nor 
language where their voice is not heard for the healing of the nations 
and the blessing of mankind. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selpii. We must now come back to Washington. I’d like to 
stop at Philadelphia and cross the Koosie-Hoosie Creek, but time 
does not permit. We are here on schedule time. Mr. Bell, we have 
delivered the mail; we have been across the great expanse; we are 
back here now in the Nation’s Capital. 

You know this world has produced a great many men; events, con¬ 
ditions, necessities produce men; out of every great crisis and conflict 
a master mind is developed. The distinguished gentleman that I am 
about to present to you now I have known myself as long as the 
gifted orator from the alfalfa field. He knows that I, too, spent my 
younger days in the great empire of Texas. It may be surprising 
for you to know that I was a cow-puncher out in Texas; I knew him 
then as the foe of the unscrupulous; I knew him then as all that 
represented the high character of pure manhood. It would be use¬ 
less for me to eulogize our great chieftain, and so I am going to call 
upon him now to answer to the toast to the President of the United 
States. 

I present to you Albert Sidney Burleson. [Applause.] 

REMARKS OF HON. ALBERT SIDNEY BURLESON, POSTMASTER 
GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Mr. Burleson. Mr. Toastmaster, gentlemen of the Postal Service, 
and representatives of the great business interests of America, I 
(ruly wish that I had the gift of eloquence. It would enable me to 
pay the tribute to the wonderful man Woodrow Wilson that he 
deserves [applause], to eulogize him as he justly deserves to be eulo¬ 
gized; but, gentlemen, I am no orator. Notwithstanding the state¬ 
ment of my distinguished friend, the representative of the merchants’ 
association, I am not eloquent. I could not be if I tried; but I can 
tell you something of Woodrow Wilson as I have come to know him 
because of six years’ close association. 

Woodrow Wilson has a passion for serving the masses of the 
people—not a class, but all the people. He has a vision that enables 
him to form in his own mind reforms necessary to meet those needs 
and necessities; he has the ability to shape these reforms into legis¬ 
lative enactments and the tact to enable him to see that they are 
ripened through legislation into law. Consider for a moment his 
accomplishments as President of the United States; see for a moment 
how broad and catholic his solicitude for all the people has been 


170 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


during his term of President. He grappled with a problem, com¬ 
plex problem, which had been vexing the financiers and bankers of 
America for a half century. Many attempts had been made to solve 
it. Able men in the White House and in the Congress of the United 
States with a patriotic desire to do the thing that should be done had 
made efforts to enact proper legislation, but they had all failed, and 
it remained for Woodrow Wilson to recommend and to put upon 
the statute books the Federal reserve act, which solved the complex 
problem that was confronting the financiers and the bankers of this 
country for five decades. 

For the merchants, the manufacturers, and the commercial classes 
he brought into existence the Federal Trade Commission. Fie caused 
to be enacted the shipping act, which is the germ of the merchant 
marine, so eloquently spoken of by Gov. Dockery a moment ago. He 
clarified the antitrust act so as to enable the business men of this 
country to engage in great business enterprises without fear of hear¬ 
ing the creaking doors of the penitentiary. He placed upon the 
statute books the Tariff Commission. For the farmers he passed, or 
caused to be passed, the rural-credits act, the good-roads law, the 
cotton-futures and the grain-standardization act, the farmers’ exten¬ 
sion act. For the laborers of the country he caused to be enacted the 
anti-injunction law, the laborers’ compensation act, the eight-hour 
law; and for the women and the children of the country he caused 
to be placed upon the statute books a child-labor law. So you see 
that his activities and his efforts were not confined to a class, but he 
embraced all the people within his solicitous care. And what is he 
engaged in now ? He has gone beyond the confines of our great coun¬ 
try and is at this time embracing within his solicitous care the welfare 
of humanity throughout the world. [Applause.] We have just 
emerged from a world war, a war that has resulted in the expendi¬ 
ture of $200,000,000,000, a war that has resulted in the loss of 7,345,- 
000. lives, a war that has left wounded and maimed over 14,000,000 
men, a war that disturbed business in every country throughout 
the confines of this globe. Has it been fought for nothing? What 
is to come from it ? What is America asking ? She is not asking for 
indemnity; she is not asking for territory; all that America asks at 
this time—and Woodrow Wilson is bending every energy to accom¬ 
plish it if possible—is that this horrible catastrophe shall never be 
repeated again [applause] ; and when he returns to America I pray 
God that he may bring with him a pact of nations, the great coun¬ 
tries of the world, setting forth and embodying an agreement that 
never again shall these horrible losses be entailed upon the human 
family. 

Gentlemen, I want to say one word to supplement what was so well 
said by Mr. Bell and by Gov. Dockery: The American people have 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


171 


performed their full duty up to this moment, and I think I can say 
it and say it truthfully that the postmasters of this country, the postal 
employees of America, have measured up, fully measured up, to their 
duty; but, gentlemen, the task is not yet fully performed. We have 
incurred a tremendous financial obligation as a result of this war. 
Ultimately the debt of America will aggregate, probably, as a result 
of our activity $30,000,000,000. It is true that we hold the obliga¬ 
tions of foreign countries to the extent of approximately $10,000,- 
000,000, leaving a net obligation resting upon the American people 
of $20,000,000,000—a tremendous sum, but a mere bagatelle compared 
with the aggregate wealth of our country; and, when }’ou consider the 
tremendous burdens that must be borne, financial burdens that must 
be borne, by other countries, ours is comparatively light. If Great 
Britain, considering population and her aggregate wealth, fixed the 
standard of our indebtedness it would amount to more than $05,000,- 
000,000, and if our obligations were comparable with those of France 
or of Italy it w 7 ould be a still larger sum. Now, considering the fact 
that we are less heavily burdened than any other country that engaged 
in this war, ought there to be any hesitation on the part of the Ameri¬ 
can people to meet their full obligation and their full duty when this 
fifth liberty loan is brought before you ? 

I had occasion the other night, in talking at a dinner given by 
Gov. Dockery to submit this proposition as an appeal that could be 
made to the American people: Suppose on the 15th day of last 
October, when the American soldiers were just entering this war in 
France, when our losses were commencing to mount up into the thou¬ 
sands and the tens of thousands, when the Congress of the United 
States was appropriating money to sustain our armies in the field 
through bills carrying billions and billions of dollars, suppose some 
man had appeared in America at that time and said, assembled the 
American people and said to them, “ I will bring this contest to an 
end within 30 days provided each of you will give that percentage 
of his annual income that you ought to give in order to meet the 
obligations of the United States incurred in the prosecution of this 
war, and I leave it to you to fix the percentage that you shall give,” 
what do you suppose would have been the response of the American 
people at that time? Now, suppose that proposition had been sub¬ 
mitted on the 15th day of October, “ I will bring this war to an end 
if you will give a certain percentage of your income, but you must 
give a percentage necessary to meet the situation, and if you give too 
little the war will not end; you must give enough, and it is left to 
you.” Why, gentlemen, the response would have been very nearly 
unanimous, “ Why, we will give our entire annual income if you will 
bring this war to an end ”; and yet it was brought to an end within 
30 days. Has the obligation upon you to give been lessened in the 


172 


POSTAL BUSINESS CONFERENCE. 


slightest degree? Talk about putting this loan upon a commercial 
basis. 

There never was a time in the history of this war when a stronger 
appeal could be made to the patriotism of the American people than 
during the flotation of this fifth liberty loan. The expense of the 
Government is still being incurred; we have nearly 2,000,000 boys 
across the w r ater; they must be maintained while they are there, and 
it is going to take months and months to return them with the ton¬ 
nage that we have at our command. Where is the patriotic Ameri¬ 
can that will fail to respond when the call has been made upon him 
after the 21st day of this month? I want to say to you gentlemen 
that nothing would so sorely distress the President of the United 
States as a failure upon the part of the American people to respond 
to this call. I know that you will do your duty ; I know that each 
of you will be a missionary in order to see that this liberty loan is 
put over, and put over successfully. 

I want to express to you gentlemen my sincere thanks for the sac¬ 
rifices you have made in coming to attend this meeting, and I am 
especially grateful to the representatives of the business interests for 
coming here to confer with you about the improvement of the 
Postal Service. I am quite sure that great good is going to result 
from this conference, and I want to especially thank you for the 
earnestness with which you have grappled with those problems that 
have been presented to you by the Assistant Postmasters General. I 
thank you, gentlemen. [Applause.] 

Mr. Selph. As a fitting close to this splendid evening, let us sing 
the verses of America printed on the program. 

Now, join with me in three rousing cheers for our great President. 

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